Katy & Sarah's Unexpected Journey
by StrangeFictionWriter
Summary: Katy and Sarah have been planning to travel around the world for 6 months after graduation, and the departure date has finally arrived. However, a strange visit to a fortune-teller beforehand takes them on a completely different adventure than either of them would have expected. Wizards? Goblins? Maybe even a little romance? KilixOC, FilixOC
1. Chapter 1

I'm completely new to fanfiction writing, so be gentle. I don't own anything but the characters of Katy and Sarah...

Chapter 1

With her last ounce of strength, Katy lifted her suitcase off her bed and onto the floor. _Well that's everything_, she thought, as her eyes swept her room for anything she may have missed. Her mum had insisted she made a list of things to pack, but she had got half way through the list before she realised her time would be better spent actually packing than thinking what to pack. It wasn't like she wouldn't be able to buy anything she may have forgotten to bring with her - it wasn't as if she was going anywhere that wouldn't have shops!

Her gaze landed on a map of the world, neatly folded up next to a pile of guidebooks on South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. She couldn't quite believe that the departure date had finally arrived. Her best friend Sarah had been the one to first come up with the idea: 6 months travelling the world after they had both graduated from university, the perfect trip before they both started their grown-up, full time jobs as teachers. It had been the ideal push when the long days of classes and endless hours of studying started to get to them. Rough maps and routes had been scribbled on the back of envelopes, before they purchased proper maps and guidebooks, and that's when the plans really started to take shape. Fly to New Zealand then travel back towards London via Australia, South Asia and Africa. There were times when it felt like they were never going to actually leave, that it was all just thoughts and ideas, but tomorrow, finally, herself and Sarah would be getting on that plane.

Katy's thoughts were interrupted by the raised voices of her parents downstairs. When she had first told them about her travelling plans, they had been slightly bemused by it, probably not really believing it would actually happen. She wasn't exactly good at saving money, and they were used her and Sarah coming up with crazy ideas. But as the trip became more and more real, Katy could see that her mum and dad were starting to get a little nervous. She had never really been away from home for any length of time, having studied at a university about an hour from her parents' home. Sarah's parents had reacted in a similar way, and both girls had been given lectures on common sense and safety first at every opportunity. _I mean really, _they had both thought, _what do they think we're going to get ourselves mixed up in?_

As Katy made her way downstairs, the doorbell rang, and her mum scurried off to answer it.

'I swear, if that's another double glazing salesman then I'm gonna tell him to stick his windows where the sun don't… oh hi Sarah, come on in!'

'KATY! SARAH'S HERE!' she bellowed, before realising Katy was already halfway down stairs.

'Oh, there you are, honey. Now remember, your dad and I want to spend at least some of this evening with you before the pair of you go gallivanting off to the other side of the world, so don't stay out too late, ok?' Her mum had that worried look on her face again.

Katy gave her a reassuring smile.

'Please don't worry, we're only going for a quick drink to toast our adventure, I'll be gone no more than an hour'.

Sarah grinned from behind her mum.

'I promise I'll wait until we've left the country before leading Katy astray'

Katy and her mum both gave Sarah a sharp look, but before either of them could say anything, Katy's dad shouted from the living room.

'For goodness sake, Margaret, let the girls go out for a bit, you're going to have to get used to not seeing them for a while!'

'Thanks dad!' Katy said as she gave her mum a quick peck on the cheek. 'I promise, I'll be back in an hour'.

As she and Sarah went out the front door, she could hear her mum berating her dad for letting her out of the house so easily.

'You're parents sound exactly like my parents. My mum almost had a heart attack when I went up to the loft earlier and she couldn't find me for twenty minutes.' Sarah said, as the two girls set off down the street.

'I know, the way they're acting, you would like that we didn't know where we were going. I'm sure they'll be fine once we've arrived in New Zealand'.

Sarah stopped suddenly, grabbing Katy's arm. 'What is it, Sarah?'

'We're actually doing it,' Sarah sighed. 'Can you believe it? Tomorrow we'll be out of here and on an adventure!'

Katy grinned back at her friend. 'I know, I'm so excited! Just think of all the places we're going to, the people we'll meet.'

'You mean the hot guys we'll meet' said Sarah.

Rolling her eyes, Katy started dragging her friend along the road to their local pub. 'I knew it wouldn't be long until you started on that again'

Sarah looked indignant. 'What? We're both single, what's the harm in some innocent flirting? And who knows, we might the men of our dreams!'

'Yeah,' Katy replied, 'On the other side of the world!'

'Ok, now you're starting to sound like your mum', Sarah said as they entered the pub.

One bottle of wine later the girls left the pub, having loudly toasted the start of their adventure. Katy was pretty sure that everyone in the pub was sick of hearing about it. As they turned to walk back to their homes, Sarah stopped suddenly, noticing some brightly coloured lights a short distance away.

'Were those there when we came here?' she said.

Katy thought for a minute.

'I don't think so, I'm pretty sure we would have noticed them'.

Sarah once again grabbed Katy's arm, dragging her in the direction of the lights.

'Come on, let's see what it is, call it the start of our adventure'

'What', Katy scoffed, 'an adventure around here?'

As they got closer the lights, they realised they were walking towards the derelict football field. When Katy and Sarah were younger, it used to be full of kids running around and playing football, but recently it was more of a hangout for local gangs of teenagers. Right now, though, it was unrecognisable. The two girls stood by the gate, looking in at a brightly lit, laughter-filled fun fair.

'Where on earth did this come from?' Sarah exclaimed.

'Beats me,' Katy shrugged.

The two girls looked at each other for a couple of seconds, before grinning at each other and running through the gate. _Sorry mum, _Katy thought, _I'm going to be gone slightly more than an hour_.

The fun fair was full of children and adults, but no one either Sarah or Katy recognised. They wandered aimlessly for a bit, before Sarah spotted a sign for a fortune-teller.

'Fancy finding out if we're going to meet Mr Right on our travels, Katy?' she smirked, dragging her friend over to small tent.

'Really? Since when did you want to have your fortune read?' said Katy.

Sarah shrugged. 'Just a bit of harmless fun. What's the worst that could happen?'

Before letting Katy answer, Sarah stepped into the tent, followed somewhat reluctantly by her friend. The place was full of lit candles, and in the centre of the tent was a low table, behind which an old woman sat. She looked up quickly as the girls entered, and smiled softly at them.

'Come sit down, dears, and I shall tell you of your future'.

Katy leaned into Sarah. 'Are we actually going to pay her money for this?' she whispered.

Without answering, Sarah pulled out some coins from her bag and marched over to the table.

'Guess that's a yes then', Katy muttered, joining her friend.

Sarah handed over the money, and old woman began shuffling cards. There was some strange muffled music coming from the back of the tent, and it only added to the unsettling feeling Katy was having.

The old woman started turning over some cards.

'I see distance. And travel. And many new experiences.'

_Ok, give the old woman some credit, that's not a bad guess_, thought Katy.

'Yes! We're both going travelling tomorrow! Sarah exclaimed, 'do you see any potential romance on those cards?'

The woman's eyes darkened, and she looked up at Sarah sharply, before turning over some more cards.

'Romance? Perhaps. But also danger.' _Please don't tell our parents, _both girls immediately thought.

The woman continued. 'You will encounter many different people and strange creatures. Not like yourselves. Open your minds, to wizards and goblins.'

Both Sarah and Katy looked blankly at the old woman, the same thoughts running through their heads.

_Wizards?_

_Goblins?_

_What is this, Harry Potter?_

Sarah decided to voice these thoughts, somewhat angrily.

'Are you serious? Wizards and goblins? Let me give you some advice, stick to the real world and leave the fantasy stuff to JK Rowling. And can I get a refund?'

Sarah stood up and reached her hand out to the woman.

'No refunds. You asked for your future, and I gave it to you,' said the old woman, as she gathered up the cards.

'Stupid old bat….' Katy heard Sarah mutter as she marched out of the tent. Suddenly Katy realised she was still sitting down.

'Sorry about my friend, I guess she was looking more for Prince Charming than Dumbledore' Katy said apologetically, as she quickly left the tent.

Stepping outside, she couldn't see where Sarah was. Katy started to look for her phone in her bag to call her friend, when she spotted her, chatting away to a handsome guy at a food stand. Rolling her eyes, Katy went over to them.

'Katy, there you are, this is David, and he was just telling me how lovely these caramel apples are!' Sarah beamed at her.

'I'm sure he was,' Katy replied, smiling at them both.

Sarah kept talking without taking her eyes off David.

'Do you know anything about the weird old woman in that tent over there? She charged me five quid to tell us that we'd be meeting some wizard on our travels! I know it's not actually possible to read someone fortune, but you would think she would want to keep it a little bit more realistic?!'

As soon as the words left Sarah's mouth, the smile left David's face.

'Mina knows what she is talking about. She never fails to see exactly what lies ahead' he said darkly to both girls.

Before Sarah could reply, Katy quickly stepped in.

'You know, we really don't mind what she said. No harm done. We'll just take the apples and leave you alone', she said, handing over some money.

Katy pulled Sarah away, who still looked like she had something to say to David.

'Let's go home, we've got an early start tomorrow, ' Katy told her friend, as she started eating her caramel apple.

Sarah took one last look at the fortune-teller's tent as they headed for the gate, and saw the old woman staring at them, muttering under her breadth.

'You're right, this place gives me the creeps', Sarah said, quickly marching ahead of Katy, 'Plus, your mum is probably going to have a go at me for keeping you out so late, she probably has some last minute safety tips to tell you'.

Sarah laughed, turning back to Katy. 'Katy, are you ok?" noticing that her friend had turned white as a sheet.

Katy shook her head. 'I don't feel so good'.

Sarah groaned. 'Oh god, we don't need you to get sick before our flight tomorrow. Not the best start to our adventure. Come on, let's get you home to bed.'

She stepped towards Katy, taking the first bite out of her apple. Katy looked at her, eyes widened. 'No, Sarah, I think it was the apple!'

'What?!'

But before either girl could say or do anything more, the world around them started to spin, and they both landed heavily on the ground, just outside the entrance to the fun fair. The old woman, having watched the girls faint, slowly made her way back into the tent, with a small smile on her face. _Let's give them an adventure they will never forget…._


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, here's chapter 2. Let's have the girls meet a wizard and a hobbit...

Don't own anything but Sarah and Katy...

Chapter 2

As Katy woke from her deep sleep, she stretched into a big yawn and slowly opened her eyes. _That was such a weird dream, _she thought. Eyes fully opened, two more thoughts popped into her head at the same time. One, that today was the start of her six-month adventure with Sarah, and two, why the hell had she fallen asleep in some field? She sat up slowly, and took in her surroundings. Yes, she was quite right the first time – she appeared to have fallen asleep in a field. _Crap, we're going to miss our flight, aren't we?_

She heard some groaning beside her, and looked down to see Sarah going though the exact same thought process as she had done.

'You know you have those nights out, when you can't remember half the night, and you wake up wondering how the hell you managed to make it home in one piece?' Sarah grumbled.

'Yeah...'

Her friend sat up too. 'This is so much worse than that'.

'Totally'.

Katy stood up and looked around her. 'Where the hell are we?'

Sarah suddenly started pointing and laughing at the other girl.

'What is it?!'

Struggling to catch her breath, Sarah continued to laugh. 'Haha, look at your clothes! They're hanging off you! Have you been on some new diet I don't know of yet?'

Looking down in horror, Katy saw that Sarah was right. She was wearing jeans, t-shirt and hoodie, and she was practically drowning in them. Her ballet pumps also suddenly seemed much too big. Katy then looked at her friend's clothes, and said with a touch of glee, 'Looks like I'm not the only one that's been on a diet!'

Sarah jumped out, and promptly fell out of her wedges. Her jeans, top and blazer were also far too big for her. 'What the hell?!'

The two girls stood there looking at each other for a minute or two, not quite sure what to do. It was Katy who spoke first.

'Ok, something obviously happened to us last night. What do we remember doing?'

Sarah thought for a moment before answering.

'Your mum was complaining, nothing new there, then we went for a drink…Maybe our drinks were spiked?'

'That doesn't exactly explain where we are though'

Sarah thought some more.

'There was that creepy old woman at the fun fair?'

Katy turned to her. 'What, you think she followed us? And took us somewhere?'

Sarah shrugged. 'Beats me. She was odd, though. And that guy with the caramel apples was also a bit strange. But cute.'

Realisation suddenly hit Katy. 'Wait, I felt sick after eating the apple. And then you ate the apple too.'

Sarah looked sceptical. 'Poisoned apples? Isn't that a bit Disney?'

'You're the one who was so interested in finding out about your Prince Charming!' Katy retorted.

'Well we aren't going to find him sitting in a field…'

They were silent again, until Sarah suddenly started walking, with Katy quickly following.

'Where are you going?' Katy asked.

'Like I said, we aren't going to find our Prince Charming, or a way back home, sitting around. I say we find the nearest house, ask to use their phone, and then call anyone apart from our parents.'

'How do you know what direction to go in? I can't see any houses around here.' Panic was starting to creep into Katy's voice.

'I don't know, I'm just walking. I'm sure we'll come across someone or something soon. Don't worry!' said Sarah.

Katy couldn't quite believe her friend was being so calm. 'Aren't you worried?!'

Sarah turned to her friend, and could see the panic in her eyes. She stopped and gave her a hug.

'Look, I'm scared as hell as well, but we need to keep our heads and work out how to get home so we can get on a plane and have our adventure. Neither of us wanted it to start out like this. But if we keep calm, then we'll find a solution.'

Sarah continued walking, but kept hold of Katy's hand. Sarah could be scatterbrained, impulsive and slightly obnoxious, but she was also great in an emergency, and Katy was grateful that she was with her. The two friends quickly moved across the field, which slowly started to rise upwards to a small wooded area, and kept an eye out for any signs of life.

At the top of the hill, they stopped where the trees began, and took stock of their surroundings. Both of them had assumed that they would see houses and roads beyond the trees in the valley below, or at least some dirt tracks and farm cottages. Instead, there appeared to be doors and windows built into the ground itself.

'What the hell…' Katy muttered, gripping Sarah's hand tighter.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and without saying anything both girls dived behind the nearest tree, not failing to notice just how big the tree was. _My god, we really have seem to have shrunk…_, they both thought.

The footsteps grew closer, and before Katy could stop her, Sarah jumped out from behind the tree.

'Excuse me! Could you help us? We're a little lost' she said politely.

Before the stranger had a chance to reply, Sarah turned to Katy, who was still behind the tree.

'It's fine, Katy, it's just an old man in a funny hat!' she whispered, a bit too loudly.

Katy crept out from behind the tree, and sure enough, there was an old man in a funny hat. She gave him a nervous smile and left the talking to Sarah.

'Like I said, we've somehow found ourselves in this field, and don't really know how to get home? If you could let us know where we are exactly, that would be super!'

The old man smiled at the two girls.

'Well, my dears, you are in the Shire, and that over there is Hobbiton, where I am headed.'

_The Shire?_

_Hobbiton?_

'Er, what county is that in? I've never heard of either of those places.' Sarah replied, the calmness slowly leaving her voice.

The old man looked bemused. 'County? I'm not sure what you mean. This is Middle Earth.'

Sarah looked at Katy, visibly panicked.

'Middle what now?'

'My dear, where is it you're trying to get to?' the old man asked kindly.

'Erm, Kent?' Sarah practically squeaked.

The old man thought for a moment. 'Hmm, I've never heard of such a place. Why don't you come with me, I'm calling on a friend and together we might be able to figure out where you need to go'.

As soon as he said that, Katy started shaking her head at Sarah, not caring if she offended the old man. 'He might be in league with the old woman!' she whispered frantically at Sarah.

Her friend rolled her eyes, and turned back to the old man.

'That would be great if you could. I'm Sarah, and this is my friend Katy. She's a little nervous, don't mind her,' she said, sticking her hand out.

The man shook it, and turned to Katy.

'Don't be alarmed, my dear. My name is Gandalf the Grey, and I mean you no harm.'

_Gandalf the Grey? Something sounded familiar about that name, _Katy thought as she slowly shook his hand and tried to smile politely.

The three of them continued to walk through the woods, and then down into the valley towards the strange houses built into the sides of hills.

Sarah tried to make small talk.

'So Gandalf, what do you do? Katy and I are newly trained teachers!'

Gandalf seemed pleased with what Sarah had said. 'Well, I am a wizard of Middle Earth, and I guess I do my own fair share of teaching as well!'

Both girls stopped walking as soon as he said that.

_Wizard?_

_He's a WIZARD?_

'Did you just say you're a wizard?' Katy said, at exactly the same time as Sarah muttered 'Dumbledore…' under her breadth.

Gandalf nodded.

Katy turned to Sarah, glaring at her. 'What?!' Sarah exclaimed.

'The old woman. Do you remember what she said? That we'll meet a wizard on our travels?!' Katy hissed.

Sarah smiled brightly. 'Oh yeah! God, I didn't give that old bat enough credit, did I? Well worth that fiver!'

Katy just glared at her.

'Is there a problem, my dears?' Gandalf asked.

Sarah gave Katy's hand a reassuring squeeze. 'Nope! Lead on, Gandalf!'

The wizard and the two girls continued walking, and Sarah continued her questioning.

'So, who's this friend you're going to meet?'

'He lives in Hobbiton, and he is called Bilbo Baggins. I'm actually going to inquire if he is interested in a bit of an adventure.'

At the mention of the name Bilbo, Katy squeezed Sarah's hand, but Sarah ignored it and pressed on.

'An adventure? Katy and I are off on our own adventure, we're going travelling around the world for six months! Well, as soon as we get home and try and reschedule the flights, you know what airlines can be like…' Sarah said.

'Hmm, I'm not sure if I do...' Gandalf replied.

The three of them continued on in silence for a bit, until they entered Hobbiton. Sarah and Katy looked at the place in amazement – they had never seen a place like it before. Suddenly, they saw people, lots of people.

'Are these all wizards like you, Gandalf?' Sarah asked.

The wizard chucked. 'No, my dear, these are Hobbits, an interesting race, but certainly not wizards.'

'Huh. They're quite short, aren't they? I mean, compared to you.'

Gandalf looked down at the two girls, and Sarah felt a bit silly.

'I guess we're quite short as well, aren't we!' she laughed.

Katy broke her silence. 'Gandalf, do you know why we're so short? I mean, we're not usually this size in…Kent.'

Gandalf looked puzzled. 'Yes, you are small, aren't you? You look like the race of man, but somewhere between the size of a hobbit and a dwarf! Very strange!'

'Dwarf?!' Katy shrieked.

'Yes, my dear, dwarf! And you may meet some in the future. Very proud race, but maybe don't go on about their size too much.'

Gandalf stopped suddenly, and the girls noticed that they were outside one of houses built into the earth. Up close, it looked quite cute, and on a bench in front of one of windows sat someone, who the girls correctly guessed, to be Bilbo Baggins.

'Good morning!' Bilbo said to the three figures.

Gandalf started asking Bilbo about exactly what he meant by good morning, and Sarah took the opportunity to move closer to Katy.

'How you doing there?' she asked her friend.

'How am I doing? Still a bit freaked out by all this, and even more freaked out that you seem to be coping with it all extremely well and making friends with a wizard!' Katy hissed back.

'Look, Gandalf seems nice, and he said he is going to try and help us, so we might as well be polite.'

Sarah was right. Katy took a deep breadth, and tried to keep calm.

'Ok, that makes sense. But this is all a little odd, isn't it? Look at the houses! And I think I've heard of Bilbo and Gandalf before, haven't you?'

Sarah thought for a moment, then shook her head. She was about to respond, then heard Gandalf mention herself and Katy to Bilbo.

Bilbo turned to the two girls and smiled politely. They waved back, awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact that he had big hairy feet.

'Right, well I have some business to attend to, but you may stay with Bilbo for now, and I will return later when I found out more about why you're here,' Gandalf said.

Bilbo looked a tiny bit horrified at having to share his home with two strange girls, but continued to smile politely.

'You're leaving us?' Katy said, suddenly not wanting to let Gandalf out of her sight.

'Just for a little while, but don't fret, I won't forget about you', Gandalf reassured her. 'In the meantime, I'm sure Bilbo will make you feel at home.'

With those words, Gandalf gave Bilbo a little nod.

'Oh! Yes, erm, yes! Please do come in,' the hobbit said to the girls, and he ushered them into his home. Gandalf smiled to himself as he drew a symbol with his staff on Bilbo's door, and walked off down the path.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews and to everyone who has read it so far! Hope you're enjoying it. I probably wont be able to update quite so frequently as I'm back at work tomorrow, but I'll do my best. Here's chapter 3 - time for the girls to meet some dwarves...

I own nothing but Katy & Sarah...

Chapter 3

It was now evening in Hobbiton, and Katy and Sarah had spent a fairly pleasant day with Bilbo Baggins. Well, it was probably a bit more pleasant for the girls than for Bilbo, as Sarah had taken to touching a lot of stuff in Bilbo's house (which they learnt was called a hobbit hole), much to Bilbo's increasing annoyance. Katy had concentrated on keeping as calm as she could, and she kept telling herself that Gandalf would return with a solution to how she and Sarah were to return home and get off on their own adventure.

As the sky grew darker, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah sat down to a dinner of fish. The girls were very grateful that Bilbo cooked them dinner, and it smelt and looked delicious. The hobbit had given himself a considerably larger portion than the girls, but neither of them found it in themselves to ask for more. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Katy's face immediately lit up.

'Gandalf!'

She grinned at Sarah, who had a mouth full of fish.

'I'm sure he'll have found a way for us to get home, don't you think?'

Sarah nodded. 'Yup, he is a wizard after all!'

They heard voices as Bilbo answered the door, and then were shocked to discover that instead of Gandalf, a tall, (well, taller than they were) bald chap came into the room. Noticing the girls, he bowed.

'Dwalin, at your service'

Sarah's mouth fell open, still full of fish, and for once in her life, she was speechless.

'What the…' Katy muttered.

Suddenly, Sarah found the right words, and after swallowing the fish, stood up to greet the stranger.

'Hi there, Dwalin, was it? Are you a hobbit or a wizard?' she inquired.

'I'm a dwarf!' Dwalin grunted at her, 'What are you?!'

'Erm, long story, but we're women who seem to have shrunk a bit, not really sure why yet.' Sarah replied, trying to keep the smile on her face as she watched Dwalin eat Bilbo's dinner.

She then turned to Bilbo. 'Were you expecting company? I mean, other than Gandalf?'

Bilbo looked a little flustered. 'No I certainly wasn't!'

Katy wasn't sure if she should eat her dinner or offer it to Bilbo. Before she could decide, though, Dwalin went to lift her plate.

'Are you going to eat that, or can I have it?' he barked at her.

Katy just mumbled at him, and watched him eat her fish.

She was thinking of something to ask the dwarf, when there was another knock on the door, causing even more panic on Bilbo's face. As he went off to answer it, Katy and Sarah rushed into the living room. Dwalin was a bit intimidating.

'Sarah, who is hell is that? First wizards, hobbits, and now dwarves?! Where the hell are we?'

Sarah peered into the dining room to see another dwarf join Dwalin. This one was older with white hair.

'Don't worry, Katy, I'm sure Gandalf will explain everything'.

'Ok, but I've been thinking. All these names, Bilbo, Gandalf. I'm sure I've heard them somewhere before.'

Before Sarah had the chance to reply, there was a third knock on the door. Both girls peered around the corner to see Bilbo open the door to two young dwarves.

'Fili'

'And Kili'

'At your service'

As Bilbo once again made upset noises, Katy turned to Sarah.

'More of them! How many more can there be?'

Sarah smirked. 'As many as possible, if they all look like that', nodding her head at the dark haired dwarf who was now scraping his boots on Bilbo's furniture.

'Really? A dwarf?'

'Not just any dwarf, a hot dwarf. Look, his mate isn't bad either, one for you!' Sarah grinned.

Katy was about to reply when she properly looked at the other dwarf.

'Hmm, you're right, not bad, actually...'

Sarah started laughing, and both girls followed the dwarves back through to the dining room, where they were moving tables and collecting as much food as possible. _Poor Bilbo, _thought Sarah.

Before they could introduce themselves to the new arrivals, there was an even louder knock on the door. Bilbo wasn't impressed, and even less so when eight more dwarves tumbled into his hall, and a familiar face stood behind them.

'Gandalf!' Katy and Sarah squeaked at the same time.

The wizard smiled at the girls. 'Good evening, my dears. And I see that you've met some of the dwarves!'

'Erm, we've not really been properly introduced, to be honest. They all seem a bit more focused on getting food than meeting us', Sarah explained.

Gandalf smiled as the dwarves around him noisily made their way into the kitchen. 'Yes, I think we best leave the introductions until a bit later.'

The wizard went off into the hobbit hole, muttering under his breath and counting dwarves. By the looks of things he was missing one.

Sarah turned to Katy. 'Fancy something to eat? You never did get your fish. And by the looks of it there won't be much left for much longer.'

Katy sighed. 'Yeah, might as well as find something to eat! We might even be able to chat to those cute dwarves!'

Her friend grinned back at her. 'That's more like it! You've lightened up at bit!'

'Well, I feel better now that Gandalf is here,' Katy shrugged.

The two girls made their way among the dwarves, trying not to trip up on any furniture or be hit by any food.

By the looks of things, Bilbo was less inclined to just let the dwarves get on with feeding themselves and generally making themselves at home.

'Excuse me, that is a doily, not a dishcloth!'

Katy and Sarah smiled apologetically at him, before carefully reaching for some bread and cheese. 'Sorry about your kitchen, Bilbo…' Katy said quietly as she looked around for somewhere to sit.

Sarah, meanwhile, had spotted the two hot dwarves and was making a beeline for them.

'Hi, I'm Sarah, I'm a friend, well kind of, of Gandalf's, can I sit here?' she asked the dark haired dwarf, pointing to the empty seat next to him.

He smiled brightly at her, 'Of course! I'm Kil-'

'KATY! OVER HERE!' Sarah bellowed across the room, as she sat down next to Kili.

'Oh, excuse me, can I just- I'll just squeeze in here, thank you!' Katy said as she eventually made it across the kitchen. She went to sit next to Sarah who gave her a look before nodding to the space next to Fili.

'I think that seat's free' she said knowingly.

'So obvious…' Katy muttered, as she sat down.

She smiled at Fili. 'Hi, I'm Katy, nice to meet you.'

The two young dwarves appeared delighted at the attention.

'Fili'

'Kili'

'At your ser-'

'Oh, you've already done that!' Sarah said, giggling.

Kili blushed. 'Oh, er, right! Where did you say you were from?'

The girls shared a look.

'Erm… a small village in Kent? I don't think it's near here' Sarah said after a few seconds.

'Yeah, we've travelled far, still working out how…' Katy added.

The two dwarves only seemed slightly puzzled with that answer. 'Are you joining us on our quest?' Fili asked Katy.

'Quest? What kind of quest?' she replied.

'Like the crystal maze?!' Sarah offered. Katy rolled her eyes at her friend, but before either of the dwarves could tell them anymore, they were up on their feet with the rest of the gathering. Dishes were soon flying everywhere, and Bilbo looked like he was going to have a fit. He asked them to stop, which only resulted in them starting to sing about blunting the knives.

'I THINK THEY ARE JUST TIDYING UP!' Sarah shouted across to the hobbit, but he didn't seem satisfied until he had seen all the dishes stacked neatly and cleanly in the kitchen.

'That was impressive…' Katy whispered to Sarah, who nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, and the room fell silent.

'Is it another dwarf?' Sarah asked, more loudly than was needed. Katy shrugged.

Gandalf opens the door, and as another dwarf entered Bilbo's home the two girls tried to step back into the corner of the room. As far as first impressions went, this dwarf didn't seem as friendly as the others. There was a definite sense of power about him, and the other dwarves clearly respected him, as they remained silent.

Gandalf introduced Bilbo to Thorin Oakenshield, and the dwarf started asking the hobbit about weapons.

'This is all getting a bit serious, don't you think? I preferred it when they were throwing food around' Katy muttered to Sarah.

Suddenly both girls felt the eyes of the whole room on them.

'And who are these females?' Thorin asked Gandalf.

The wizard looked at the girls for a moment, as if deciding what to say. Sarah spoke up, before he had a chance to reply.

'I'm Sarah, this is Katy. We're, um, girls from somewhere far away, and we're a bit lost'

'And what are you doing with my company?' Thorin replied.

'Erm, somebody mentioned something about a quest, I think? Not really sure if it's our kind of thing, really. We're headed for New Zealand, if you must know'.

Sarah felt Katy's nails digging into her arm, which she took as a sign to stop talking. Fili, meanwhile, was doing his best to avoid Thorin's gaze. He probably shouldn't have tried to impress a girl by mentioning the quest…

Thorin merely grunted in response, and strode into the kitchen to find something to eat.

'That was painless…' Sarah muttered.

The girls followed the rest of the dwarves into the kitchen, and folded themselves into a corner out of the way while the dwarves gathered around the table, listening to Thorin. The girls didn't understand a lot of what was said, but could sense that now was not the time to ask questions. More talk about a quest, a lonely mountain, and then a dragon. At the mention of the dragon, Katy suddenly let out a little squeak and covered her mouth with her hand. Sarah immediately saw that something was wrong.

'What is it? You look like you're going to be sick!'

Katy removed her hand and took a deep breath. She was visibly shaking.

'Not here', she managed to mutter.

Sarah looked around at Gandalf and the dwarves. So far, it didn't look like any of them had noticed Katy's reaction, and taking her friend's hand, Sarah tiptoed out of the kitchen and into a small study across the hall. The wizard noted their exit out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing.

Katy gave herself a minute to compose her thoughts before she spoke.

'Ok, you know how earlier I said that the names Gandalf and Bilbo seemed a bit, well, familiar?'

Sarah nodded.

'Well, it just came to me in there, when they were talking about reclaiming their home, or whatever that was. I know where I've heard these names before.' Katy explained.

'And…' Sarah encouraged her to continue.

'From a book. Actually, a children's book.'

Sarah just stood staring at Katy, not quite sure what to say.

Katy continued talking. 'I mean, I haven't read it, or I don't think I have. It's weird, it's as if something in my head is trying to remember it, but at the same time there's something else that's trying to make me forget. If that's makes any sense?'

'Well, about as much sense as the rest of the day has made, to be fair.' Sarah replied. She paused for a moment before continuing.

'So let me get this straight. You think we're in a book. That somehow we got taken from our boring village into a book.'

Katy nodded. 'A children's book.'

'A children's book with wizards, hobbits, dragons and hot dwarves.'

'Yeah…' Katy looked a bit sick again.

'So it might not be as easy to get home as we thought, I mean we can't just keep walking and suddenly we'll be back in England. We're stuck here. Until what, the book finishes? What happens at the end?' Sarah voice grew louder and louder, and for once it was Katy trying to calm her friend down.

'I don't know, like I said I don't think I've read the book, but you need to keep quiet or those dwarves are going to find out they're fictional characters, which might not go down so well!' she hissed at Sarah.

'You're right. We need to stay calm. I mean, if we can get into a book, surely we can get out of it again, right?'

Katy nodded hopefully.

'God, I think I might faint,' Sarah whispered.

'Me too,'

Just as Katy had spoken, the girls heard a loud thump, and opened the door of the study to find Bilbo lying flat on the floor, out cold.

'Well at least we're taking it better than he is. Do you think he heard us?' Sarah asked.

Some of the dwarves started to drag Bilbo into a chair.

'I doubt it, maybe someone broke one of his grandmother's dishes or something.' Katy answered.

Gandalf came over to the girls. 'Everything alright, my dears? Don't mind Bilbo, he just needs to get his head round the idea of an adventure'

Sarah turned to the wizard. 'Were you able to find out how we can get home? It's just, we're getting a little bit concerned that we're, erm, further away than we originally thought.'

Gandalf frowned.

'Did anything out of the ordinary happen to you, right before you became lost?'

Katy looked at Sarah, and the two girls briefly explained what happened to them yesterday, right up until they ate the apples and fell asleep. Katy left out the bit about being in a children's book, as she was still having trouble remembering anything about it. Her head hurt when she thought about it too much.

'Hmm, a fortune-teller, you say? How odd. Leave it with me, I'll try and find some answers for you.' Gandalf said to the girls.

Sarah smiled at him.

'Thanks, Gandalf. Erm, so what do we now, then? Do you think Bilbo will let us stay here?'

The wizard turned to look at the hobbit, who was still out cold in a chair, but before he could speak they heard a voice from across the room.

'The females will come with us.'

Katy and Sarah turned to find Thorin staring at them.

'What? You want us to come on your quest? Are you nuts?' Sarah yelped.

'I heard what you said to Gandalf - tales of fortune-tellers and mysterious places? Who knows what you really know about this quest? I don't trust you, and I don't want you out of my sight. Not until we know more about where you've come from. Plus, it looks like the hobbit won't be much use,' Thorin replied.

Sarah smiled slightly at Katy.

'Well, it looks like we're getting our adventure after all'.


	4. Chapter 4

That's again to everyone reading this... here's the next chapter (I own nothing...)

Chapter 4

A new day broke over Hobbiton, and as Katy and Sarah slowly woke up, they half expected to find themselves back in their own beds, and for the previous day to have been an elaborate dream. Their hearts sank when they saw that they were still in Bilbo's house. The hobbit hadn't fully recovered from his shock, and it was Gandalf who found the girls a spare bedroom to sleep in. Not that either of them had slept much. After Thorin had told them that they were to accompany the dwarves on their quest, the girls realised that there was no way of changing the stubborn dwarf's mind. Sarah pointed out that since they had originally been planning an adventure in the first place, they might as well go along with this one until they found their way back home. Katy wasn't convinced, but there was no way that the two of them were to be separated, so they both smiled politely at Thorin and thanked him for the invitation. He merely grunted at them, and walked away. _Such a charmer, _thought Katy.

The rest of the dwarves appeared to be busy preparing for next day's departure, and while the girls wanted to ask more about the quest, they didn't find the opportunity to continue their chat with Fili and Kili. They spent most of the night musing over what might actually be involved in this quest (apart from the dragon, they didn't remember much from what the dwarves said), and when they had fallen asleep their dreams were full of dragons and wizards. Both of them were convinced that they had heard the dwarves singing at one point.

As Sarah pulled herself out of the bed, she looked down at her clothes and frowned.

'I'm not sure I'm going to be much use on this quest if I'm constantly pulling up my jeans and falling out of my shoes,' she said to her friend.

Katy raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah, sure, because in clothes that fit you'll be a proper Robin Hood!'

'Hey, for all you know we might be suited perfectly for this quest. All I meant was that we should probably find some clothes that aren't hanging off us. It isn't a great look.'

Katy had to agree. 'I wonder if Bilbo has anything that would fit?'

'We should probably ask him first, he was a bit funny with the dwarves eating his food. I doubt he would be thrilled if we came marching out in his clothes,' Sarah said.

'You're right. I'm not even sure that he has anything we'll want to wear.'

Sarah laughed. 'Don't think we'll have that luxury! You'll have to rely on your pretty face and sense of humour rather than your sense of style to flirt with that dwarf.'

Katy blushed slightly. 'I have no idea what you could be possibly talking about!'

'Ha! You are so in denial. At least I'm admitting that I fancy his mate.' Sarah grinned.

The girls opened the door, and immediately heard a chorus of what could only be snoring dwarves. They tried not to laugh as they tiptoed into the kitchen to find something to eat. Armed with some bread and fruit, they were about to make their way back to the spare bedroom when they heard a voice behind them.

'Anything left for us?'

Katy and Sarah both jumped, and turned to see Kili grinning at them.

'Oh, it's you, I thought it was Grumpy for a second' Sarah said, relieved.

'Grumpy?' Kili didn't understand.

'Oh, you know, Thorin, is it? Not exactly a ray of sunshine, is he?' Sarah explained.

Kili nodded. 'My uncle has a lot on his mind. He's determined to win back his kingdom for his people'.

'And suddenly I feel like a bit of a bitch for saying that, sorry…' Sarah trailed off.

The girls and the dwarf were silent for a couple of seconds until Katy realised what Kili had just said.

'Wait, uncle? He's your uncle?'

The dwarf grinned again (_God, he has such a cute smile, _thought Sarah).

"Yes! Myself and Fili are his sister's sons,' he explained.

'Oh, you and Fili are brothers?' Sarah asked, 'I didn't realise. Ha, Katy – we've never dated brothers before!'

Katy glared at Sarah, but before Kili could ask what she meant, Katy tried to move the conversation on.

'So, are all the other dwarves related to Thorin as well? We've not really been properly introduced.'

Kili shook his head. 'Just Fili and I. I'll introduce you to the others, though! It's about time that they got up anyway.'

Sarah and Katy then followed Kili back into the living room, where all the dwarves slept. Kili proceed to kick each of the sleeping dwarves in turn while shouting their name at the girls.

'That's Oin…this here is Bofur…Nori…I think you've already met Dwalin…this is Bombur…that's Ori and then that's Gloin…he's Balin…that one is Dori…this is Bifur… and you know Fili!'

Kili saved the biggest kick of all for his brother, who woke up with a shout and lunged for Kili. The girls looked on in amusement as Fili tackled his brother to the floor before Dwalin tore them apart.

'Enough!' he bellowed. 'Let's get some breakfast.'

Giggling, Kili and Fili picked themselves up off the floor and began to follow the rest of the dwarves into the kitchen. Fili stopped, noticing Katy, and gave a shy wave.

'So you're joining us on our quest, then?' he asked her.

Katy nodded. 'Looks like it! Unless you're uncle suddenly decides otherwise. I'm not sure we have much choice in the matter…'

'Well, let's hope he doesn't change his mind,' Fili said, smiling.

Katy blushed.

'So, er, what else can we expect on this quest? Are you travelling far?' she asked the dwarf.

'Hopefully we wont run into too many problems, and it should only take a few weeks to get to the Lonely Mountain.' Fili replied.

Katy was about to ask what he thought constituted a problem, but Thorin called on his nephews to help prepare the ponies, and smiling at Katy, Fili made his way outside with his brother.

'Ah, you're smitten, aren't you?' giggled Sarah from behind.

Katy turned to her and smacked her lightly on the arm.

'Not as smitten as you are!'

Sarah grinned. 'Come on, Gandalf is going to sort out some clothes for us.'

Bilbo was still asleep in his bedroom, but Gandalf assured the girls that the hobbit wouldn't mind them wearing the pieces that he laid out in front of them.

'Not bad, Gandalf, we can work with these!' Sarah grinned, holding up a short pair of trousers and a belt.

'Hobbits don't wear shoes, so you'll just have to either make do with your own or go barefoot. I'm not sure that the dwarves have any to spare.' Gandalf said, as he left the room.

Once they were changed, Katy scribbled a note to Bilbo, thanking him for the clothes and for letting them into his home yesterday.

'I feel a bit bad, not saying goodbye.' She said to Sarah.

'Yeah, he was a bit odd, but I liked him. Who knows, maybe we'll meet him again. Maybe there's a sequel to that book!' Sarah laughed.

'Please don't even joke about that, let's just get through this quest in one piece,' Katy said as she went out the room.

The girls made their way outside, and found all the dwarves sitting on ponies, waiting for them. Two small packs were sitting on the ground in front of them, which Thorin gestured to.

'Put those on and climb onto that pony, you'll need to share one. It was supposed to be for the hobbit but clearly he wont be needing it.'

'And good morning to you, too!' Sarah said brightly as she and Katy picked up their packs.

Katy could see Fili and Kili trying not to laugh.

Packs on, the girls spent about five minutes trying to climb onto the pony before Bofur helped them up.

'Up you go, lassies! Have you never ridden before?' The two girls shook their heads. 'Don't worry, it will come naturally to you!'

Sarah gripped her friend tightly around the waist as Katy held the reins, not really sure what she should be doing.

Thorin shouted at them to start moving, and the ponies took off at a gentle pace, which was still a little too quick for Katy and Sarah. They found themselves near the back of the group, and soon Kili and Fili had made their way to either side of their pony.

'Are you enjoying the quest yet?' Kili asked them eagerly. Katy caught Fili rolling his eyes.

'Erm, yeah, it's not bad so far, not too keen on the ponies, but we're managing.' Sarah replied, as she tried to move Katy's hair out of her face.

'Our uncle asked us to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't get into trouble,' Fili said to Katy.

'Oh really? And what kind of trouble does he think we'll get ourselves mixed up in?' she replied, smiling sweetly at him.

'You are so flirting with him…' she heard Sarah whisper in her ear, and Katy gave her a sharp poke with her elbow.

'I guess the kind that got you lost in the first place!' Fili laughed.

'Well, that was kind of Sarah's fault, really-'

'MY FAULT?' Sarah blasted, 'How was it my fault?'

Katy tried to turn around on the pony to face her friend.

'I believe your words were, _Fancy finding out if we're going to meet Mr Right on our travels_, and then that woman started talking about wizards!'

'Damn, you have a good memory,' muttered Sarah.

Katy smiled gleefully. 'Who knows, maybe Gandalf is your perfect match!'

Kili and Fili were watching on in amusement, not really sure what to make of it all. _Such strange creatures, _they both thought.

They continued on in silence, with the girls concentrating on not falling off the pony while Kili and Fili wondered just who Mr Right was, until shouting was heard behind them. The dwarves and the girls stopped their ponies.

'Wait, wait! I signed it!'

Katy and Sarah smiled at each other, recognising the voice.

'It's Mister Boggins!' exclaimed Kili.

'Bilbo, you decided you join us!' Katy grinned.

'Either that or you want your clothes back…' said her friend.

Bilbo handed Balin the piece of paper he was carrying, and the old dwarf checked it through quickly and nodded.

'Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield'

All the dwarves but Thorin gave a little cheer, and Katy and Sarah gave a loud whoop of delight. Finally Thorin spoke.

'The hobbit can have the females' pony. Kili, Fili, you can share your ponies with them instead. They're just about falling off on their own.'

Sarah huffed loudly as Bilbo started talking about his walking holidays.

'We aren't _that _bad, are we?'

Katy gave her a nervous look.

'Speak for yourself! We need to get off this pony first!'

The dwarves and the hobbit watched in pained silence as one at a time, each girl tumbled off the pony.

'Thanks for all the help, guys! Much appreciated!' Sarah said, with more than a bit of sarcasm.

Bilbo was still protesting against using a pony, and was only quiet when Kili and Fili lifted him on the girls' pony. He didn't look comfortable in the slightest.

Thorin glared at the girls.

'Hurry up and get on behind my nephews, we're wasting time'.

For once Sarah didn't have any good come-backs, and she and Katy scrambled up onto Fili and Kili's ponies as quickly and gracefully as they could.

'Hold on tight,' Kili said to Sarah with a grin, as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Katy did the same behind Fili, and the girls smiled at each other as the ponies started to move again.

Soon, bags of coins were being thrown from dwarf to dwarf.

'What's all that about?' Katy asked, as a bag almost hit her as it passed between Nori and Oin.

'We took bets on whether the hobbit would show up or not,' replied Bofur.

'Yeah, some of us are short of a few coins thanks to Bilbo!' Dori muttered, as he flung a bag of coins to Bofur.

'But at least we've got our burglar!' the dwarf grinned.

As the ponies trekked on, Fili turned to look at Katy.

'So, come on, then. Tell us who this Mr Right is that you're looking for?' he said to her.

Katy wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

'Um, no one. It's just a figure of speech from where we're from,' she said, a tiny bit embarrassed.

The dwarf looked confused, then shrugged.

'I see. So what did you do, before you got lost?' he asked.

It was strange – up until that point Katy and Sarah hadn't really thought too much about what they had left behind. They had focused so much on _how _they were going to get home that thinking of the actual place and the people they had left behind made them a little bit sad. And also a little guilty for not feeling it sooner.

Sarah cleared her throat before answering.

'We were studying to become teachers. We were planning to travel around the world a bit before getting a job.'

'And then we came here…' Katy whispered, a little tearfully.

Kili and Fili exchanged looks, realising that their questions we're upsetting the girls.

'Don't worry, Gandalf is a wizard. He'll find a way to get you home. He's helping us reclaim ours, and he'll do the same for you,' said Kili, giving the girls an encouraging smile.

They both smiled back, and all four of them fell into a comfortable silence.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Thorin called for the company to stop in a clearing on the edge of a cliff.

'We'll camp here for the night. Fili! Kili! Watch the ponies. Bombur – prepare some food for everyone.'

The two young dwarves helped Katy and Sarah down from the ponies, and both girls felt stiff from riding all day.

'Oh god I can't feel my bum!' Sarah cried, hitting it with her hand.

'Tell me about it. And my legs are aching,' Katy replied, slowly making her way over to a large log. She looked at the hard surface, before pulling a blanket out of her pack and using it as a cushion.

All the dwarves seemed to know what tasks were needed to set up camp, and the girls and Bilbo felt awkwardly out of place.

'Do you think we should offer to help?' Katy whispered to them both.

'To be honest we'll probably just get in the way,' Sarah reasoned, and Bilbo looked to agree.

Before long, Bombur had made a thick stew, and the camp was silent but for scrapping of bowls and chewing of food.

Sarah noticed Ori scribbling on some paper.

'What are you writing?' she asked him.

He looked up, a bit startled.

Bofur chuckled. 'Don't worry, lad, she don't bite!'

Ori gave a shy smile to the girl.

'I'm keeping a record of the quest. Thorin asked me to,' he said, proudly.

'Yeah, you really should. My mum asked me to write a diary when I went travelling,' Sarah told him, but before she could get sentimental Katy came over to where she sat.

'Are you ready to get some sleep? Kili has saved a spot for you.'

Sarah gave her friend a small smile.

'Too cute…'

She said goodnight to Ori, and went over with Katy to a small patch of grass next to a large rock where Kili and Fili had set up their sleeping mats.

'I'm guessing you guys need to keep an eye on us while we're asleep, eh?' Sarah said cheekily.

'Aye, girls, they'd hate for you to run off into the wild without them,' Balin answered, as he closed his eyes. The two dwarves looked a bit sheepish.

Thorin must have heard him.

'Kili and Fili, you two have first watch!' he barked at his nephews.

Katy and Sarah laughed as they tried to find a comfortable position on the ground.

'I hate camping,' muttered Sarah.

The girls couldn't tell how long they had been asleep when they heard a scream from somewhere in the distance.

Katy was instantly awake, and sat up quickly, shaking Sarah.

'What the hell was that?'

Bilbo had also woken up, and come scuttling over to where she sat.

'You heard it too?"

Both girls nodded.

'Orcs,' Kili whispered, from where he sat next to them.

Katy hadn't even realised both he and Fili were still awake.

'Orcs? What the hell are orcs?' asked Sarah.

'Throat-cutters,' said Fili. 'There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them.'

Bilbo, Katy and Sarah looked at one another fearfully.

'They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood,' Kili told them.

'And you didn't think to mention them before?!' Katy practically screamed at him.

Fili and Kili stayed silent, and then suddenly started laughing at the looks on both the girls and the hobbit's faces.

'You think that's funny?' Thorin interjected, wiping the smiles off the dwarves faces.

'You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?'

Kili couldn't look his uncle in the eye.

'We didn't mean anything by it,' he mumbled.

'No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world,' Thorin spat, before walking off to the edge of cliff.

Katy and Sarah didn't know what to say to Kili and Fili, after their harsh reprimanding from their uncle. They gave them both a small smile to show they weren't annoyed at them, and then tried, unsuccessfully, to get back to sleep.

Balin came over to where they lay.

'Don't mind him, laddie', he reassured Kili. 'Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs,'

The old dwarf continued to tell them about Thorin and the Pale Orc, and Katy and Sarah drifted off into a fitful sleep, wondering what the hell they had got themselves mixed up in.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks again to all the readers, hope you're still enjoying the story. Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, I've had a chaotic week. But here's chapter 5 - let's have Katy and Sarah meet some trolls...

Again, I own nothing but the girls...

Chapter 5

Katy and Sarah's third morning in Middle Earth started early, and both girls woke to sore backs from sleeping on the hard ground. Neither of them could quite get Balin's story of the Pale Orc out of their heads, and as they splashed their faces with water in a nearby stream, it was all they could talk about.

'I'm scared, Sarah. And by scared I mean terrified. That Pale Orc thing might be dead, but what else is out there?' whispered Katy.

'I know. I'm starting to think that agreeing to go on this quest wasn't such a great idea,' Sarah replied.

'Like you said before, I doubt we had much choice where Thorin's concerned. He still doesn't seem to trust us,' said Katy, as both girls made their way back to camp.

'I just feel so much out of my depth. I mean how are we meant to defend ourselves if something does attack us? Are we meant to let the dwarves help us? I'm starting to wish I didn't give up on those karate lessons when I was younger,' Sarah said.

'Yeah something makes me think that my zumba moves aren't going to be much use,' Katy joked, trying to lift the mood.

As they joined the dwarves and Bilbo for breakfast, it was clear that they weren't the only ones who had been affected by the story of the Pale Orc. Kili and Fili were more subdued than normal, possibly still feeling a bit guilty over scaring the hobbit and the girls last night.

'You ladies manage to freshen up a bit?' asked Bofur, while stuffing his face full of sausages.

'Hmm, not so much. I would kill for a proper shower and some shampoo. I hate to think what bugs are starting to crawl around in my hair…' Sarah said, running her hand through her dirty blonde locks.

'Ah, living with nature never did anyone any harm!' the dwarf replied.

'Keep thinking that thought when you see how frizzy Katy's hair can get!' laughed Sarah, as Katy tried to subtly flatten her hair.

Thorin soon announced that they were to continue moving, and the girls found themselves once again sharing a pony with Kili and Fili. Neither dwarf was very talkative, seemingly still upset after a telling off from Thorin, and just when Katy and Sarah couldn't think that it could get worse, it started to rain. Heavily.

'You just had to mention a shower, didn't you Sarah?' sighed Katy.

'Hey, at least it will flatten down your hair!' her friend shouted back, 'But if that doesn't work, maybe you can ask Fili to tie it in braids. These dwarves seem pretty keen on braiding their hair!'

As soon as Sarah mentioned Fili braiding Katy's hair, both girls felt the dwarves tense up in front of them.

'What? Can we not braid our hair since we're not dwarves?' asked Sarah.

Kili shifted slightly round to face her.

'No-o, that's not it. It's just when a female asks a male to braid her hair, she's more often than not asking him to start courting her. And then you've got your different courting braids, and marriage braids, and fertility braids…' Kili trailed off.

Sarah was silent for a moment, and turned to Katy and Fili, who were both trying not to look at anything, their faces bright red.

'Whoops...' Sarah said, grinning at them both. She then turned back to face Kili.

'So what if I was to start braiding your hair? Would that be a dwarf way of asking you out?'

Now it was Kili's turn to go bright red.

Katy sniggered, glad for the attention to be off her and Fili.

'Don't worry, Kili, she was always quite forward when it came to asking guys out. She's harmless really!'

A few of the other dwarves were looking at the two girls, not quite understanding what they were laughing about, but at least it lightened the mood somewhat, despite the rain. Kili and Fili both looked a lot more cheerful, once they had got over their initial embarrassment.

As the afternoon wore on, the rain continued, until even the dwarves were fed up with it.

'Here, Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?' asked Dori.

The wizard didn't look impressed with that request.

'It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard.'

Bilbo asked Gandalf about whether there were any other wizards, and Katy and Sarah listened on fascinated as Gandalf told them about Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown.

'I always just assumed the Gandalf was the only wizard,' muttered Sarah.

'I wonder if that old woman at the fair was some kind of wizard? I mean, for her to be able to magic us here,' Katy thought out loud.

'After all the things we've seen here, who knows,' replied Sarah.

Thankfully, the rain soon cleared, and the company stopped by an old, abandoned farmhouse.

'We'll camp here for the night,' Thorin announced. 'Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them.'

As everyone dismounted from their ponies and started to set up camp, Katy and Sarah went to talk to Gandalf. They hadn't stopped thinking about the idea that the old woman could have been some kind of wizard, and wanted to see what Gandalf thought about it. However, it soon became clear that the wizard was having a heated conversation with Thorin, and neither girl wanted to interrupt. They didn't know what they were discussing, but heard the word _elf _mentioned quite a lot. Suddenly the conversation seemed to be over, and Gandalf marched off.

Bilbo looked as concerned as the girls did.

'Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?' the hobbit asked.

'To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense,' the wizard huffed.

When Bilbo asked who he meant, Gandalf replied loudly.

'Myself, Mr Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day.'

Sarah and Katy gave each other a quick look before scurrying off after the wizard.

'Gandalf! Are you really going? Can we come with you?' shouted Katy.

'Yeah, what happened to helping us get home?' Sarah added.

The wizard stopped in his tracks and turned to face the girls, giving them a small smile.

'I just need to look ahead at a few things. And I haven't forgotten about helping you. Don't worry, I will return,' he said kindly, 'Stick with the dwarves. They'll look after you.'

With that, Gandalf continued marching off before either girl had a chance to reply.

'Why does it feel like everyone is always telling us what to do, ever since we got here?' Sarah muttered, and Katy nodded in agreement at her.

Darkness fell on the camp, and still Gandalf hadn't returned. Bombur had made soup for dinner, and as the company ate, the girls tried not to get too worried about the wizard. Bilbo also seemed quite nervous without Gandalf around, and Bofur tried to calm the hobbit.

'He's a wizard! He does as he chooses,' the dwarf said, handing two bowls of soup to Bilbo. 'Here, do us a favour, take this to Kili and Fili, they're still keeping an eye on the ponies.'

As the hobbit went off with the bowls of soup, Katy turned to Bofur.

"Were Gandalf and Thorin talking about elves?' she asked him.

'Er, I'm not too sure. Why do you ask?' he replied, glancing over at Thorin.

Katy shrugged.

'No reason, just curious. Sarah and I have met wizards, hobbits and dwarves, I'm just wondering what other creatures we'll meet. Might be quite nice to meet an elf. Are they friendly?' Katy went on.

Bofur looked increased uncomfortable with the girl's questions, and kept checking to see whether Thorin was listening.

'Well, er, elves are a bit of an odd race, and haven't always, eh, gotten on with dwarves. Bit of a history there, if you know what I mean,' Bofur stuttered.

Sarah and Katy could sense that the dwarf didn't want to be having this conversation, so didn't question him further. That didn't stop their curiosity about elves though.

'Let's go and ask Kili and Fili. I bet you'd only have to bat your eyes and Fili would tell us everything,' Sarah whispered.

Katy rolled her eyes at her friend.

'What?!' Sarah said indignantly, 'He seemed keen to find out who your Mr Right was. And I bet he would braid your hair if you asked him.'

Katy still said nothing, and pulled her friend through the trees to where the two young dwarves were watching the ponies. At first they couldn't see the dwarves, but then spotted two bowls of soup on a thick branch, and Kili, Fili and Bilbo crouched down behind a rock close by.

'What the hell are you doing?' said Sarah, loudly, as she and Katy went over to them.

The three of them turned around simultaneously put their fingers to their lips.

'Shhh! Two of the ponies are missing! And we've just seen where they've gone,' whispered Kili, as he dragged both girls onto the ground.

'I thought you were supposed to be watching the ponies? How did you manage to lose two of them?' asked Katy, as she tried to peer over the rock.

'We were watching them! We were just getting them some water, and then we realised Daisy and Bungo were missing,' Fili replied.

'So you said you knew where they had gone?' she asked the dwarf.

Before Fili had a chance to reply, harsh laughter was heard close by.

'Yeah, erm, see that light in the distance?' Kili said, 'Well it's a fire. And it would seem that some trolls have our ponies and are planning on cooking them.'

Katy and Sarah were silent for a minute.

'I'm sorry, what? I could have sworn you just said trolls?' said Katy.

More laughter was heard, and the dwarves, girls and hobbit all peered over the rock to see three huge trolls sat around a fire.

'Oh look at that, you did say trolls,' Sarah whispered, in shock.

Katy had a look of pure horror on her face.

'What are we going to do?! Should we tell Thorin?' she asked.

Both Kili and Fili quickly shook their heads.

'Uhh, no. Let's not worry him just yet,' said Fili, and he and his brother then turned to Bilbo, who for all this time had been sitting quite still, looking like he wished he was back in his hobbit hole.

'We thought our official burglar might be able to do something,' Fili continued.

'Me? What could I do?' Bilbo spluttered.

'It's perfectly safe. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small. You'll be able to creep up on them, and they would never know,' Kili said, pushing Bilbo in the direction of the fire.

'No, no, no…' the hobbit wasn't liking this idea one bit, and Sarah and Katy weren't too keen on it either.

'You're just going to send Bilbo after the trolls? What about you and all your weapons?' said Sarah, as Fili and Kili continued to push the hobbit ahead.

'It'll be fine, we'll be right behind you. If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl,' encouraged Fili.

Bilbo wandered off, muttering the dwarf's instructions to himself, and Kili and Fili start to make their way back to camp.

'Are you not going to follow him? You said you would be right behind him,' said Katy. Both she and Sarah hadn't moved from behind the rock.

'Look, we need to tell Thorin about the trolls, and to work out a plan. The hobbit will be fine. Come on, let's get back to camp,' replied Kili, reaching for Sarah's hand.

The girls stood up, but didn't move towards the dwarves.

'No. We're going to help Bilbo. He doesn't have any weapons. He's about as out of his depth on this quest as we are,' said Sarah, firmly.

Katy nodded.

'She's right. The last thing I want to do is fight some trolls, but Bilbo is our friend, and you can't just send him off into danger.' Katy was surprised at how calm she sounded.

'Don't be silly, you'll get yourselves hurt. Come back to camp, and we'll sort this out,' Fili said, trying to reason with them.

The girls still refused to move, and after a minute of staring at each other, Kili let out an exasperated sigh.

'Fine, help Bilbo. But try not to get yourselves caught. We'll be back to help soon,' he said, and both dwarves made their way back to camp.

Suddenly alone, both girls didn't feel as confident as they had done a moment ago.

Sarah turned to Katy.

'Right then, I guess we better go and help Bilbo.'

'And what exactly are we meant to do?' asked Katy, as they both started to tiptoe towards the fire.

'I have absolutely no idea. But I wasn't about to tell that to those two know-it-all hot dwarves,' replied Sarah.

As the girls got nearer to the fire, they could hear voices, and soon three large trolls came into sight. At first Katy and Sarah just stood in shock, not quite believing what they were seeing.

'Oh my god. So we've met wizards, hobbits, dwarves, and now trolls. This trip just gets better,' said Katy.

'Yep, it sure does. Come on, I think I see Bilbo over there,' Sarah said, grabbing Katy's arm.

The trolls were too busy preparing the fire, and hadn't yet noticed the girls or the hobbit. Katy and Sarah crept over to where Bilbo was trying to free the two ponies.

'Bilbo! We're here to help you!' Sarah whispered, and the hobbit jumped when he saw them both.

'I can't cut the rope. I need a knife or something,' he whispered back, and all three of them glanced over at the trolls.

The hobbit slowly started to move towards one of the trolls, as Katy and Sarah pulled at the ropes around the ponies.

'Where are those bloody dwarves when you need them,' muttered Sarah.

Suddenly they heard a shout, and turned to see one of trolls holding up Bilbo.

'What are you then? An oversized squirrel?'

'I'm a burglar, uh, hobbit' replied Bilbo.

The troll looked at Bilbo, puzzled, and the other trolls try to grab him, which only resulted in Bilbo falling to the ground and scurrying away. All three trolls tried to catch him, and Bilbo did well to dodge their fists, until he was eventually caught.

Before Sarah and Katy have time to think, they were running through the grass towards the trolls, and Bilbo was almost dropped once again as the trolls tried to grab the girls.

Katy and Sarah started kicking and scratching the trolls' legs, but soon they too are being help upside down by the trolls.

'Look, now we got one burglar-hobbit each!' one of the trolls said, and they all started laughing.

The girls and Bilbo desperately tried to kick themselves free, but the trolls tightened their grip. Sarah tried to catch Katy's eye, and the only thing she could think about is Kili's last words to her, _just don't get caught. _She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen, when suddenly she heard Kili's voice.

'DROP THEM!'

Sarah opened her eyes, and there was Kili, sword in hand. _God, he's hot, _she thought.

The trolls look confused.

'You what?'

'I said, drop them!' Kili shouted, cutting one of the trolls in the leg.

The troll dropped Sarah, who landed right on top of Kili, but before the creature could do anything else, there was a loud cry from the trees. The rest of the dwarves came charging out, weapons raised, and started hacking and slashing at the trolls' legs, causing them to drop Katy and Bilbo.

Kili pulls Sarah to her feet.

'You took your time,' she said to him, but before he could reply all the dwarves suddenly stop fighting, and Sarah soon realised why - Bilbo was once again in the hands of the trolls.

'Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off,' said one of the trolls.

Thorin looks frustrated, but has no choice but to throw down his sword, and the rest of the dwarves did the same. It doesn't take the trolls long to have the girls, Bilbo and half the dwarves tied up in sacks, and for the other half of the dwarves roasting on a spit over the fire.

Katy was lying in between Fili and Bilbo.

'Sorry your rescue mission didn't go quite to plan,' she whispered to the hobbit, who gave her a small smile.

'Maybe if you had come back to camp then you wouldn't be tied up about to be a troll's dinner,' muttered Fili, and Katy glared at him.

'Look, I'm tied up in a sack, I'm completely filthy and about to be eaten by a troll. I don't need you to say I told you so!'

Fili smirked. 'And I never did get to braid your messy hair,'

Despite her annoyance at him, Katy couldn't help but blush.

On the mention of her hair, Bilbo gave a jolt, and shouted at the trolls, who were back on the topic of how to cook the dwarves.

'Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!'

The dwarves, the girls and the trolls didn't know where he was going with this.

'What do you mean?' one of the trolls asked.

'You can't cook them like that, have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up,' Bilbo said.

The trolls continued to look confused.

'What do you know about cooking dwarf?'

Bilbo started prattling on about skinning them, and Katy gave him a desperate look, really hoping that he knew where he was going with this.

Suddenly one of the trolls grabbed Bombur, and held him above his mouth.

'No! Not that one, he's infected!' screamed Bilbo.

'You what?' The trolls were confused.

'Yeah, he's got worms in his…tubes,' Bilbo gulped.

As soon as he said that, the troll dropped Bombur quickly, and he landed right on top of Sarah. _That's got to hurt, _thought Katy.

'In fact, they all have, they're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business, I wouldn't even risk it, I really wouldn't,' the hobbit continued.

If it hadn't been that they were about to be eaten by trolls, Sarah and Katy would have burst out laughing, because the dwarves' reaction to being told that they had parasites was priceless.

'Parasites, did he say parasites?'

'We don't have parasites! You have parasites!' (_Great come-back, Kili, just great, _thought Sarah).

The girls weren't sure what Bilbo was trying to achieve, but they were sure he had some kind of plan. Thorin appeared to catch on to it as well, as he started kicking the dwarves around him. Suddenly, the dwarves were quite proud of those apparent parasites.

'I've got parasites as big as my arm'

'Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!'

'We're riddled!'

The trolls appeared even more confused, and didn't know what to do with their dinner. Before they could decide, though, a figure appeared suddenly on a rock above them, and both Katy and Sarah had never been more delighted to see that Gandalf had returned.

'The dawn will take you all!' exclaimed the wizard, and the trolls watched in confusion as Gandalf struck the rock with his staff, causing it to split in half. Sunlight poured in, and the trolls quickly turned to stone.

'What the hell?!' shouted both Katy and Sarah simultaneously.

The girls couldn't stop looking at the stone trolls as Gandalf helped untie them, the dwarves and Bilbo.

'God, I think I've really seen everything now. I can't believe they just turned to stone!' said Katy, as Sarah stood tapping the stone troll in disbelief.

Gandalf smiled. 'My dear, even those who have lived in Middle Earth for some time have been shocked by what exist here. Your reactions don't surprise me at all.'

Thorin came up to speak to Gandalf, and Katy quickly made herself scarce. After Gandalf storming off earlier, and his dramatic return, she expected that the company leader would have some questions. _And who knows, maybe even an apology, _she thought.

Katy went over to join Sarah, who was still tapping away at the stone troll.

She grinned at her.

'Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?'

Sarah just looked a bit bewildered, before noticing that Kili and Fili were approaching.

'Heads up, hot dwarves coming,' she said as she nodded in their direction.

'Are you both ok? It can be quite a shock seeing a troll turn to stone, especially just after you've almost been eaten by them,' said Kili.

'I think we'll cope,' Sarah said bluntly.

Both young dwarves seemed a little taken aback by the girl's attitude, and Katy pointed out the reason why.

'That wasn't a very nice thing you did to Bilbo. Sending him after the ponies, knowing full well he didn't know what to do.'

'He's our burglar! He's going to help us defeat a dragon! I'm sure three stupid trolls were nothing to him,' said Fili.

'Nothing to him? He almost got torn in half! And it was still a rubbish thing you did,' retorted Sarah.

Kili and Fili glanced at each other, not quite believing that the girls were annoyed at them.

'We're, erm, sorry?' offered Kili.

'It's not us you should be apologising to,' said Katy.

Before anymore could be said, Thorin called out for the company to return to camp. He was keen to move on from this place, but before they did, there was a troll cave to explore nearby.

Some of the dwarves went into the cave to inspect the hoard, but Katy and Sarah could smell it from outside, and didn't want to get any closer. Kili and Fili were hovering close to the girls, not sure if they were still in trouble over what they had done to Bilbo, and they kept trying to catch the girls' eyes and send little hopeful smiles their way.

Gandalf came out of the cave clutching some small swords, and after giving one to Bilbo, approached the girls.

'Now I hope that you never have to use them, but I think it would be sensible if you had some kind of weapon to defend yourselves with,' the wizard said, handing a sword to each girl.

Both Sarah and Katy didn't have a clue what to do with the weapon, but thanked Gandalf quietly. They could see the sense in having a weapon, but they just didn't want to think about what they might have to use it against.

'Ever used one of these in your zumba classes?' Sarah joked, as she started to wave it around.

'Careful, you could do some damage with that,' Kili said, approaching slowly.

Sarah turned to the dwarf, holding out the weapon.

'Oh yeah? Better not piss me off again, then eh?'

Kili gave a small smile. 'Fili and I could teach you to use them, if you want.'

Sarah and Katy smiled at each other.

'Yeah, go on then. We could use something to point our swords at,' smirked Katy.

Fili and Kili beamed at them, but were soon distracted by a shout from Thorin. Something was coming through the trees, headed this way.

'Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves!'

Katy and Sarah glanced at their swords, grimacing. They didn't think they would need to use them this quickly.

Suddenly, a group of large rabbits burst through the trees, pulling a sled, and holding onto the sled was a man dressed, as what Sarah and Katy could only describe, as a tree.

'Ok, for like the hundredth time today, I'm speechless. Who the hell is that?' whispered Sarah.

'Radagast! Radagast the Brown!' Gandalf exclaimed.

'Ah, that other wizard!' muttered Katy.

Sarah was about to wonder how powerful this wizard was, when Radagast opened his mouth and removed a stick insert. _Bit odd, _she thought.

Gandalf took Radagast aside to speak to him, and he seemed concerned by what he heard. They were interrupted by a howl in the distance, and once again the girls glanced towards their swords. Bilbo looked just as fearful.

'Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?'

'Wolves? No, that is not a wolf,' answered Bofur, as what looked like a massive wild sort of dog burst into the clearing. The dwarves acted quickly, with Thorin striking the creature with his sword and Kili shooting it with an arrow.

'Warg-Scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind,' shouted Thorin.

Katy and Sarah stood still, rooted to the ground.

_Orcs?_

To be honest, they thought they had dealt with the whole troll incident quite well, but _orcs?_ They hadn't even seen the creature before, but the name still struck fear in their bones. Suddenly, both girls wanted to be home, desperately.

The dwarves were quick to act, except the ponies had fled. Those silly little ponies, who Bilbo, Katy and Sarah had tried to rescue, had run away. Little buggers.

Radagast, though, was keen to help.

'I'll draw them off,'

Gandalf looked nervous. 'There are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you'

Radagast simply smirked in response.

'These are Rhosgobel Rabbits, I'd like to see them try!'

With that, the wizard took off on his sled, and soon the company saw a pack of wargs and orcs chase after him. They couldn't watch for long, as soon Gandalf shouted at them to move, and Katy and Sarah found themselves running as quickly as they could alongside the other dwarves. For the next ten minutes or so, all they thought about was running and keeping up with everyone. Gandalf and Thorin led them across the grassy plains, and they stopped to hide behind rocks for brief moments, before charging out and running at top speed again. It was exhausting, but neither Katy or Sarah had time to think about what was happening, let alone feel tired.

It was when they were paused at a large rock that Sarah noticed she could no longer see Gandalf. She was about to say something, but stopped herself when she saw that wargs were approaching them for all sides. They were trapped.

'We're surrounded!' Fili cried, as he tried to keep an eye on Katy.

The dwarves had now noticed that Gandalf was no longer with them, and shouted that he had abandoned them.

Suddenly he appeared from behind a nearby rock.

'This way, you fools!'

Thorin urged them on, and they quickly ran towards where the wizard stood. Kili stayed near the back, shooting as many orcs and wargs as he could.

As Sarah and Katy reached the rock, they noticed a large crack in it, and Gandalf was shouting at the dwarves to slide down into it. The girls followed them, and soon Thorin and Kili joined them as well.

The whole company listened as something attacked a warg, sending it down into the crack in the rock, an arrow sticking out of its neck. Thorin pulled it out and examined it.

'Elves,' he spat.

Katy and Sarah looked at one another.

_Elves again._

The dwarves made their way to the back of the cave, where a narrow pathway began.

'I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?' said Dwalin.

'Follow it, of course!' Bofur was quick to reply, as the rest of the company made their way through the pathway's entrance.

After a few minutes, the pathway suddenly opened into a wide area above a valley, in which a city lay. The dwarves, Bilbo and the girls looked at it in silence.

'The Valley of Imraldis. In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name,' said Gandalf.

'Rivendell,' said Bilbo, quietly.

Katy and Sarah looked at each other.

'Who lives here?' Katy whispered at the hobbit.

'Elves,' he replied, causing the girls to smile. Looks like they were going to meet these creatures after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter, bit less action and a bit more chat...

I own nothing but the girls x

Chapter 6

As the dwarves, Gandalf, Bilbo and the girls made their way slowly down into Rivendell, Katy and Sarah couldn't stop staring at, well, _everything._ They both had been surprised when they first saw Hobbiton, but this was something else altogether. The home of the elves was just so beautiful and serene, and neither of them believed they would see anything as stunning ever again. The girls could sense that the dwarves didn't share their wonder, and that Thorin in particular did not want to be here one bit. Katy and Sarah still didn't really understand exactly why the dwarves hated the elves, but from the snippets of conversation they heard between Thorin and Gandalf, they could tell it wouldn't be fixed with them stopping by for a quick chat.

The company walked over a bridge and into Rivendell itself, and elves suddenly appeared into front of them.

'Oh my god, they all look like models. Stunning, beautiful, perfect models,' whispered Sarah to Katy.

'I know. It's not doing a lot for my self-confidence,' Katy grumbled back.

A dark haired elf came up to the group to greet Gandalf. Straight away, both girls could feel the tension and distrust amongst the dwarves, but before they could think about it anymore, there was a blaring of horns, and a pack of horses ridden by elves come thundering over the bridge.

'Ready weapons! Hold ranks!' shouted Thorin, and the dwarves bundled together, and Bilbo, Katy and Sarah were pulled into the centre.

One of the elves dismounted, and began talking to Gandalf in a language the girls didn't understand. The wizard introduced the elf to Thorin.

'Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain,' said the elf, but the company leader didn't respond with similar kindness.

Standing there, after the rush of running from orcs, made Sarah and Katy realise just how tired they were, and they struggled to follow the conversation between the dwarf and the elf. Suddenly, though, food was mentioned, and even the dwarves seemed happy to be led by the elves down winding paths to a dining area, though they were soon disappointed with the vegetables put in front of them.

'Try it. Just a mouthful,' encouraged Dori to Ori.

Ori wasn't having any of it though.

'Have they got any chips?' he asked hopefully.

'Oh my god, chips! I would kill for a MacDonald's right now!' sighed Sarah. She and Katy didn't mind eating the vegetables, but even they were craving something a bit more substantial.

Before either of them could think about a Big Mac, an elf approached them.

'Lord Elrond wishes to speak to you both,' he said.

Katy and Sarah looked at each other apprehensively, before Gandalf spoke.

'It's ok, my dears, I shall accompany you. I have matters to discuss with Lord Elrond too.'

The girls got up silently from the table, and with a backward glance at the dwarves, went off with the wizard. Kili and Fili watched them walk away with looks of distrust.

As they entered the elf's chamber, Katy and Sarah felt slightly better when they realised that Elrond was the elf who greeted Gandalf and tried to welcome Thorin earlier. _A bit formal, but seems quite friendly, _thought Katy.

Elrond gave both girls a small smile.

'Welcome, ladies, to Rivendell. Gandalf has told me about your situation. I must say, it is highly unusual, and not one I have come across before.'

Sarah cleared her throat.

'I don't suppose you have any idea how we might get home, do you? Not that your place isn't nice, I mean it's lovely, it's just not, well, _home,' _she explained.

The elf and the wizard exchanged glances.

'While I do not wish to alarm you, my concern is that higher powers are at work here, and I need to consult with Gandalf and others before I can be in a position to assist you,' Elrond said, and both girls' hearts sank.

'In the meantime, you are more than welcome to stay here, in the safety of Rivendell, until such a time when you can return home,' he continued.

'Stay here? But what about the dwarves?' Katy said, surprising herself with the outburst.

'The dwarves have their own plans, and will move on regardless. But do not feel tied to them. You would be most comfortable here,' replied Elrond.

Both girl stood in silence, not quite sure what to say.

'Why don't you give Elrond's offer some thought, my dears, while I discuss some other matters with him,' said Gandalf.

'Eh, yeah, thanks Gandalf!' said Sarah, trying to sound positive.

The girls said goodbye to the wizard and the elf, and slowly made their way back to the dining area. It was a few minutes before either of them spoke.

'So, what do you think? Should we stay here?' asked Sarah.

Katy stopped to look out at the valley before them.

'I don't know. I mean, it's really pretty. And we would obviously be well looked after here,' she reasoned.

'Yup, I'm sure those elves have baths – did you see their hair?! And I doubt we would run into any orcs or trolls here,' Sarah said.

Both girls were silent again.

'But why is it that I'm actually thinking I would prefer to stick with the dwarves?' Katy sighed.

'I know. Me too. What is it about those grubby, grumpy, strange little dwarves,' said Sarah.

Katy just looked at her friend.

'I think we both know what it is. Or what it is about _two _of those dwarves in particular,' she muttered.

'Fine. We want to stick with the hot dwarves. But is that really worth risking our lives for? Cos that's what we would be doing. I doubt this quest of theirs is going to get any easier,' replied Sarah.

'Ok, we just need to think about this sensibly. Using our heads. We need to do whatever will get us home,' said Katy.

'But who's to say that staying here will get us home? Elrond seems as clueless as Gandalf when it comes to knowing what to do with us! We've been passed around from hobbit to dwarves to elves. I think it's time that we decided what we did,' Sarah practically shouted.

'Yeah, you're right, we should do what we-' Katy stopped mid-sentence. She had been looking across to a sparkling waterfall in the distance, when suddenly Fili came into her line of sight, walking towards her and Sarah.

Her friend turned to her when she didn't continue, and smiled when she saw Fili approaching.

'Well, there's part of the argument for staying with the dwarves,' she whispered, as she nudged Katy in the direction of the dwarf, 'I'll leave you two alone.'

Katy was about to respond when Sarah called out to Fili.

'You checking up on us or something? I'm suddenly hungry again, think I might go and see if any meat has been found in this place!'

_Always so, so subtle…_, thought Katy.

Fili smiled at them.

'A few of us were wondering where the elves had taken you.'

'Well, you know us, we're just fascinating creatures to you lot! I better go and make sure that brother of yours eats his greens!' Sarah said, walking off with a grin on her face.

As her friend disappeared, Katy was suddenly aware that she and Fili were alone, and couldn't think of anything to say to him. The two of them stood in silence, until the dwarf walked over to look at the valley of Rivendell.

'It's quite a place, isn't it?' he said, smiling slightly at Katy.

She nodded, still unsure what to say to him.

'Thorin is talking about us leaving first thing in the morning. We'll get some rest, probably get fed some more vegetables, and then be on our way,' Fili continued.

He looked at Katy.

'Is everything ok? You're not still annoyed at how we treated Bilbo, are you? Cos we didn't think anything bad would happen to him with the trolls.'

She shook her head.

'No, it's not that. Sarah and I have some decisions to make, and if I'm honest, it's making my head hurt a little. These past few days have made my head hurt a lot, actually. I still can't quite believe what's happening to us,' she smiled at him.

'What do you need to decide?' he asked.

'Gandalf, and now Elrond, are trying to find out how we got here, and how we can get home again. It's been really good of you and the other dwarves to watch out for us, but Elrond has said that we can stay here, in Rivendell, until we can get home,' Katy explained.

Fili didn't say anything.

'And we're trying to work out if that's what we're going to do,' she finished.

The dwarf still didn't say anything, and Katy looked at him expectantly.

'Well, I hope you make the right decision,' Fili said, finally.

Katy frowned.

'What's that supposed to mean? The whole point is that we don't know what the right decision is. Elves or dwarves? I can't even believe I'm having to make that decision,' she said, exasperated.

'I'm sorry. I guess I just don't want to make your decision even harder. You need to do what you want, not what, erm, others want. You and Sarah are the ones who are lost,' Fili tried to explain.

'Thanks for reminding me,' Katy muttered.

'I'm sorry,' he apologised again. 'I'm not making this easier for you, and I wish I could. Staying with the elves might be safer for you, but I wouldn't think you were safe unless I was watching over you myself.'

'Yeah, you're right, that's not making it any easier,' Katy laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

They stood in silence for a while, neither one of them wanting to say anything else.

'I should probably get something to eat,' Katy said eventually, but she didn't move.

Fili nodded.

'Yeah, it's not great food, but you should have something.'

They both started moving back towards the dining area, and they could soon hear the shouts of the other dwarves.

Suddenly Fili grabbed Katy's arm gently, and brought his mouth close to her ear.

'This isn't going to make your decision any easier, but I want you to come with us. Please don't stay here. I know I should be thinking about the quest but please let me keep you safe until you can get home.'

It was quite possibly one of the most romantic things that had been said to Katy, and she couldn't believe that it was coming from a _dwarf_, and that her first reaction was to kiss him. But she didn't. She couldn't even look him properly in the eye. Tears welling up in her eyes, she gave him a quick smile and walked on to find Sarah. _We've got some serious thinking to do_, she thought.

When she reached the dwarves, she couldn't see Sarah, or Kili, anywhere. The dwarves were in a jovial mood, probably due to the fact they had managed to find sausages from somewhere, and thankfully didn't notice that she was upset. Fili quietly sat down in a corner and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

'Bombur!' shouted Bofur, flinging a sausage at the large dwarf.

Catching it, the table Bombur sat on collapsed, causing everyone but Katy and Fili to burst into hysterical laughter.

'Have you seen Sarah, anywhere?' Katy asked Ori.

The dwarf nodded.

'I think Kili is teaching her how to swordfight, they both went along that path,' he said, pointing to his right.

'Thanks, Ori,' Katy said smiling at the dwarf, and she headed off in that direction, trying not to look at Fili as she walked past him.

Kili had been teaching Sarah how to swordfight for the past twenty minutes, and she had spent the past fifteen minutes complaining about it.

'This is useless!' she shouted, swiping the air with her sword and causing Kili to jump back, 'This thing is far too heavy for me to actually use!'

'You're honestly not that bad, you just need to think about where you want it to strike,' encouraged the dwarf.

Sarah threw the sword to the ground, glaring at him.

'Maybe it's my teacher who's the problem. You're good at the bow and arrow stuff, you could teach me how to use that?' she asked.

Kili looked at bit horrified at the idea of Sarah firing an arrow.

'Ehh, maybe we'll leave that until another time,' he said, picking up her sword and handing it to her.

'Let's leave it for now. I'm exhausted. Besides, Katy and I need to decide whether we're staying here or coming with you lot tomorrow,' Sarah said.

Kili looked a bit startled.

'What? You're not coming with us? Why would you want to stay here?' he said loudly.

Sarah shrugged.

'I don't know, it seems safe here? We've kind of gate-crashed your quest, and we don't want to be a burden on you. Plus we do need to find a way home,' she explained.

The dwarf looked a bit put out.

'We don't mind you coming with us. We like having you around!' he said, giving her a smile.

Sarah didn't look convinced.

'Really? You _all _like having us around?'

'Ok, then, maybe just some of us. But definitely me. And Fili too!' Kili said.

'Hmm, and I like having you around too,' Sarah muttered.

She took her sword from Kili.

'Come on, we'd better get back to the others. Katy and I need to have a chat about what we're doing.'

Kili didn't move.

'You're serious, aren't you? About staying here?' he said quietly.

Sarah nodded.

'We need think about what's the sensible thing to do,' she replied.

'But what about what you really want? Shouldn't you do that? Even if it's not the sensible thing,' Kili said.

For a second Sarah just stood there, looking at him, without a clue what to say to that. _What the hell do I actually want to do?_ she thought.

She smiled softly at the dwarf.

'You want to know what I really want?' she asked him quietly, and he nodded.

Without even properly thinking it through, Sarah moved towards Kili, closing the gap between them. Moving her hands to either side of his head, she pulled his face towards hers, and pressed her lips firmly against his.

'Sarah!'

She pulled away from Kili, grinning at him, and he grinned back at her.

'Sarah!'

Sighing, she turned around to see Katy watching them both, gesturing for her to come over to where she stood.

'Give us a minute!' Sarah yelled, and she turned back to Kili, who was still grinning at her.

'So now you know what I want,' she said, and before he could say anything she kissed him quickly on the cheek and walked towards her friend. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes.

As Sarah approached her, Katy could see that her friend was upset, and she quickly pulled her into a hug.

'Did I just see you kiss Kili?' she whispered in her ear.

'Yup,' Sarah replied, and she pulled out of the hug to look at Katy.

'What about you? You seem upset too,' she asked.

'Well I didn't kiss Fili, if that's what you mean. I wanted to though,' Katy said, and she looked like she was going to cry again.

'God, what has happened to us! Are we seriously crying over a pair of dwarves because we might decide to stay with some elves as it's the sensible thing to do?! What kind of book is this?!' Sarah said, wiping away her tears.

'Hot dwarves, remember,' Katy sniffed, 'And you're the one who said we should be looking for Mr Right.'

'I didn't think I would find him in Middle Earth,' Sarah replied, and suddenly she started laughing. Katy soon joined her, and for a couple of minutes the two girls were laughing hysterically, still wiping away tears.

Sarah took a deep breath and stopped laughing.

'We need to decide what we're going to do.'

Katy nodded, and taking Sarah's hand, the girls walked in the opposite direction to where the dwarves were. They needed some time alone to think.

The dwarves didn't see the girls for the rest of the day, and when they asked where they were, an elf told them that Elrond had given them a room to sleep in. Kili and Fili's hearts sank when they heard that. _If he has given them a room,_ they both thought, _then I guess that means that they are staying._

As dawn broke, Thorin quietly woke the company up. He wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. Gandalf had told him that Katy and Sarah were deciding whether they were to remain in Rivendell, and when the dwarf didn't see them in the morning, he assumed that that was the last they would see of the girls.

'Come on, it's time to move,' Thorin said, once everyone had got their stuff together.

Bilbo looked around, slightly puzzled.

'But what about the girls? They aren't here yet!'

'They are no longer travelling with us. This is not their quest,' Thorin replied, glancing at his nephews, who both avoided his gaze.

A few of the other dwarves voiced their surprise at the news.

'They want to stay with the _elves_?!'

'They could've at least said goodbye!'

'Did you say or do anything to annoy them, you pair?'

Bofur directed this to Kili and Fili, and he grinned at them until he saw the hard look on both their faces.

'Ok, bit of a sore point then,' he muttered, and the rest of the dwarves stopped talking as well. Bilbo suddenly looked like he might want to stay too.

'Enough talking, let's go,' said Thorin, and the company silently made their way towards a path out of Rivendell.

Bilbo kept glancing behind him, not sure if he was ever going to see Rivendell, the elves or the girls again.

'Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up,' shouted Thorin, and the hobbit hurried forward.

'Hey! Wait for us!'

Bilbo glanced behind him again, this time coming to a complete stop, causing Dori to walk right into him.

'Do you want Thorin to have a fit or something, lad?! Keep moving!' he muttered.

'I thought I heard something, that's all,' the hobbit replied, and he started walking again.

Bilbo only took a couple more steps when he heard it again, and this time Fili and Kili stopped as well.

'We're coming with you!'

'Wait for us!'

The voices got louder and louder until the rest of the dwarves were also standing still.

'ARE YOU ALL DEAF OR SOMETHING?! OR ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE US RUN THE WHOLE WAY TO THE DRAGON TRYING TO CATCH YOU?!'

Half-running, half-wheezing, Sarah and Katy suddenly appeared from around the corner.

The dwarves and Bilbo started cheering, and even Thorin had a slight smile on his face.

'If you are accompanying us any further, then I suggest you keep up and stop causing any further delays,' he barked at the girls.

'And it's lovely to see you, too, Thorin!' Sarah chimed.

The company started moving again, and Rivendell grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

'So what made you decide to join us, then,' Kili smirked at Sarah.

'Let's just say I thought about what I really wanted, and I fancied some more of it. If you get what I mean,' she replied innocently.

The dwarf went bright red, showing Sarah that he knew exactly what she meant.

'So are you going to braid my friend's hair, then, Kili?' Katy asked, 'Cos where we're from, a girl kissing you means that she wants you to start, what's the word, courting her.'

'Errrmmm…'

'I think for the first time in his life, my brother is lost for words,' Fili said, appearing next to Katy.

She smiled at him, saying nothing.

'I'm glad you decided to come with us,' he said to her quietly.

'Me, too,' Katy replied, and she found herself blushing slightly.

'And I'll do my best to try and keep you safe,' Fili said.

She rolled her eyes.

'Hey, I'm not some damsel in distress, you know. I can take care of myself,'

Fili grinned.

'I know. I just want to make sure that you don't hurt anyone with that sword while you're doing it!'

'Well I guess you better start teaching me how to use it, then!' Katy replied.

Kili snorted.

'If you're anything like Sarah, then you'll need all the practice you can get,'

'Hey!' Sarah yelled, 'You said I wasn't that bad.'

'Of course I would say that, you had a sword in your hand!' he said cheekily, causing all four of them to laugh.

'KILI! FILI! Will you quit trying to impress those females and get a move on. I told you to keep an eye on them so they didn't get into trouble, not so that they could lead you astray. Keep up!' bellowed Thorin from the front of the group.

'Sorry, uncle!' they both said in unison.

'Come on,' whispered Fili to Katy while grabbing her hand, 'I don't want to almost lose you again.'

Katy and Sarah smiled to each other, and with one final glance behind them, they strode on to keep up with the dwarves and the hobbit. For the first time since they turned up in Middle Earth, they actually felt that they belonged somewhere, and just a little less lost.


	7. Chapter 7

Here's the next chapter! It's quite long - I wasn't sure where to cut it, so it goes right up to the end of the first film. I'm planning on following the book for the rest of the story, and probably wont change too much of it. I also kind of know how things are going to end for Katy and Sarah.

I own nothing but the girls...

Chapter 7

As the company continued walking, the air started to get cooler the further they were from Rivendell. Sarah and Katy were glad of the extra layers that they found in their packs, and they now understood why the dwarves wore such heavy clothing. The grassy plains that they covered soon changed to hard, dry rock, and before long mountains rose up in front of them. The Misty Mountains, the dwarves told them.

The paths on the mountains were narrow and dangerous, and Sarah and Katy soon stopped joking around and flirting with the young dwarves. They needed all their attention focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and not falling down the sheer drop that was on one side.

'I did not sign up for rock climbing!' shouted Sarah, as she pressed herself as close as possible to the rock cliff.

'And here was me thinking you preferred this to staying with the elves,' replied Kili.

'I'm just not great with heights, that's all,' muttered Sarah.

Out of nowhere, a thunderstorm hit, and soon the whole company was drenched, and their progress slowed as thunder, rain and lightening surrounded them. The storm made the path even more dangerous, and parts of it started to crumble.

Bilbo came close to falling a couple of times, and it became clear that they could not continue until the storm passed.

'We must find shelter!' yelled Thorin.

Before anyone could begin to think about being warm and dry, a massive boulder came hurtling from the angry sky, hitting the mountain above them and causing rocks to fall down on them. Everyone pressed themselves against the rock, as another boulder came shooting towards them.

'Why is it raining rocks?!' cried Katy, but not even Fili, who was right next to her, could hear her.

'This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle! Look!' Balin shouted, and he pointed to the sky.

Katy and Sarah couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. It was as if one of the nearby mountains was, well, _alive._

'Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants, Stone Giants!' exclaimed Bofur.

'What, the mountain is alive?! How is that even possible?!' screamed Sarah, and she covered her face from the rain.

'You're only starting to ask that now?!' shrieked Katy.

Another Stone Giant rose up from the mountain, and started hurling boulders at the other. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet started to shake and crack.

'Hold on!' cried Thorin, and the dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah held on to the rock as tightly as possible. Fili had his arm firmly around Katy, pressing her against the rock, and she would have complained that she was struggling to breathe if she didn't know it was keeping her from falling.

Sarah was next to Katy, gripping her hand tightly, as she herself was being held against the rock by Kili. There was an almighty crack, and the ground suddenly split between the two girls, causing the group to divide.

'SARAH!'

'FILI!

'Kili, grab my hand!'

'Katy, hold on!'

A third Stone Giant appeared out of nowhere, and tossed a boulder, causing one of the other Stone Giants to collapse into the rock, smashing to pieces, and obscuring one half of the company from view.

Sarah stared in disbelief to where Katy stood moments ago. She and half a dozen dwarves were nowhere to be seen.

'No, no, this can't be happening, KATY!'

She yelled until she felt like there was no more air in her lungs, and Kili gripped her tightly as he looked for his brother. The dwarves rushed over to where it looked like the others had been crushed, and they were relieved to find that they were all safe. Shaken, a little bruised, but safe.

'We're all right! We're alive!' shouted Balin, and they were all helped to their feet.

'Katy!' Sarah sobbed, as she pulled her friend into a hug, 'You scared the hell out of me there.'

Katy still looked like she was struggling to breathe, but nodded.

'I know, I scared the hell out of me too. But I'm ok, I think,'

She turned to Fili, who was looking shaken himself, but was still holding onto Katy.

'I think you can let go now,' she smiled weakly.

'Never,' he replied, as Kili pulled him into a hug.

Before Katy could say anything else, Bofur realised Bilbo was nowhere to be seen.

'Where's the hobbit?' he shouted.

'There!' Ori cried, and pointed to the edge of cliff where Bilbo was hanging.

Quickly, Ori tried to grab the hobbit's arm, but the hobbit started to slip further down the rock as the dwarves nearest to him scrambled to pull him up. Thorin jumped down onto the rock face, and helped boost him up so he could be dragged to safety. The girls watched in horror as Thorin himself almost fell, only to be caught by Dwalin and heaved back onto the path.

'I thought we'd lost our burglar,' said Dwalin, visibly relieved.

Thorin turned to Bilbo.

'He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us,' he said, and before Bilbo could say anything in his defence Thorin went ahead with Dwalin to find a cave.

Katy and Sarah went up to the hobbit.

'Are you ok, Bilbo?' asked Katy, 'I wouldn't worry too much about what Thorin said. You've proved with the trolls that you're a valuable part of this team, and if anything Sarah and I are more lost than you.'

Bilbo tried to give the girls a smile.

'Thank you, at least I know you are both on my side,'

'Of course we are!' beamed Sarah, as they followed the dwarves into a cave.

As Dwalin searched the cave for any signs of life, the rest of dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah tried to make themselves comfortable. Thorin forbid them to light a fire, and told them all to get some sleep, as they would be moving again at first light.

Fili was still sticking close to Katy, and kept looking at her as if to check she was ok. Catching him doing it for the umpteenth time, she gave him a small smile.

'I'm fine, really. Just a bit shaken. You don't have to keep watching me like that,'

The dwarf seemed a bit put out.

'I know. I'm just worried that after what happened you might decide that you made the wrong decision, coming with us,'

Katy moved her hand to cup his face, and looked right into his eyes.

'Not a chance. Sarah and I are sticking with you dwarves whether you like it or not,'

He smiled brightly at her, then suddenly frowned, and moved some hair away from her face.

'You're bleeding. You must have cut yourself on the rocks,'

Fili gently dabbed the cut with the sleeve of his shirt until most of the blood had vanished.

'I guess you don't have any plasters in your packs, do you,' Katy joked, and giggled at Fili's confused face.

'Never mind. It doesn't hurt too much anyway,' she said.

After Fili checked that the cut was no longer bleeding, he and Katy found a spot on the ground close to where Sarah and Kili were lying. Sarah was already fast asleep (_that girl could sleep anywhere,_ she thought) and Kili was lying close to her, his hands in her hair. Katy was about to ask Fili what his brother was doing when she realised that he was braiding a piece of her hair.

_Wow. That is just too cute, _she thought. Smiling to herself, she tried to make herself comfy between Fili and the cave wall. The dwarf watched her wriggle about a bit, before motioning for her to lie against his chest. After hesitating a moment, Katy leant against him, and he moved his arms around her.

'Is that better?' Fili whispered.

'Yeah, thanks,' she replied, and she could feel her face going slightly red when she felt Fili's hand move through her hair.

_Is he going to start braiding my hair?! _She thought.

He didn't, though, and Katy was more than a little disappointed, she realised.

As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard Bilbo and Bofur talking quietly, but she was far too comfortable to see if she was correct.

Sarah stirred in her sleep, and she opened her eyes, hearing voices nearby. She hadn't realised how close she was to Kili when she fell asleep, and as she moved her head a fraction to look at him, she noticed a small braid in her hair. Sarah ran her fingers through it, smiling to herself, and was about to close her eyes again when she realised that Kili had woken up as well.

He smiled at her shyly.

'I guess that you are responsible for this,' she said, gesturing to her hair.

He nodded.

'I hope it wasn't inappropriate of me,' the dwarf said.

Sarah grinned at him.

'Not in the slightest,' she replied, leaning in to kiss him.

Before she could reach his lips, she heard Thorin shout for everyone to wake up, and suddenly the cave collapsed beneath them.

The dwarves, Katy, Sarah and Bilbo all fell through the cave, and slid down a chute through dark and cold tunnels, until they all came tumbling out into a giant wooden cage.

Instead of meeting Kili's lips, Sarah found herself face to face with Thorin's back. _Oh well, I guess it could have been worse_, she thought, picking herself up off the ground and checking to see if Katy was alright. Her friend was close by, being helped up by Fili. _That dwarf sticks to her like a puppy, _she thought.

The whole company was disorientated, but before any of them could figure out where they were, large, ugly creatures descended on them, taking their weapons and dragging them along a path. None of the company went without a fight.

'Hey, get your hands off me!'

'Oi, Stop that!'

'Where are you taking us?!'

The creatures didn't respond, and only snarled at them as the company were taken through tunnels and over bridges to a massive cave, where hundreds more of the creatures crowded round the group.

'What the hell are these creatures?' Katy muttered to no one in particular.

'Goblins!' answers Dori, causing Katy to glance fearfully at Sarah. _Didn't that old woman at the fair mention goblins? Guess she was right about that as well as about the wizards, _she thought.

Suddenly a goblin far larger and uglier than the rest approached the company, and both girls were visibly repulsed.

'What is that hanging from his chin?!' gagged Sarah.

The goblin gazed over at the creatures in front of him.

'Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?'

A smaller goblin gave a wicked grin.

'Dwarves, Your Malevolence. We found them on the front porch,'

The Goblin King ordered for the prisoners to be searched, and the goblins quickly rummaged through their clothing, tossing away anything that they found. Katy and Sarah crept closer to Kili and Fili, and tried not to make any eye contact with the creatures.

'What are you doing in these parts? Speak!' the Goblin King shouted, but none of the dwarves answered.

This didn't please him in the slightest, and his eyes suddenly fell on Katy and Sarah.

'Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! And start with those two,' he said, gesturing to the girls.

Kili, Fili, and the other dwarves closest to the girls inched nearer to the girls. Both Katy and Sarah were touched by their reaction, but neither of them thought it would make much difference, until Thorin stepped forward.

'Wait,' the dwarf said loudly.

The Goblin King is silent for a second, scrutinising the dwarf.

'Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain,' he exclaimed, and gave an exaggerated bow to the dwarf.

'Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really,' the Goblin King continued. _Ouch, that's harsh, _thought Katy, but the large goblin wasn't finished.

'I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg.'

The whole company was stunned at those words, and even Katy and Sarah understood who the goblin was referring to, such was the impact of Balin's story.

'Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago,' said Thorin, surprise and disbelief written across his face.

'So you think his defiling days are done, do you?' replied the Goblin King, laughing, and he ordered a small goblin to inform the Pale Orc that he had Thorin in his possession.

Katy turned to Fili.

'What does he mean, is the Pale Orc not dead? Is he going to come after us?' she whispered to him.

The dwarf could only shake his head slightly, not quite believing it to be true.

As the whole company tried to make sense of this information, dozens of goblins carried instruments of torture over to the Goblin King, who suddenly seemed to be enjoying himself.

'Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung! You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin-town!' he sung, as some of the goblins examined the company's weapons that lay on the ground.

'I bet you wish you stayed with the elves now,' muttered Kili to Sarah.

'Nope. We're in this together,' she replied bravely, and she grasped his hand firmly as she tried to give a reassuring smile to Katy, who looked like she would faint if Fili wasn't holding onto her so tightly.

One of the goblins picked up Thorin's sword, and gasped in horror. He threw down the sword so the rest of the goblins could see it, and the Goblin King was no longer so jovial.

'I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks!'

He pointed to the company, and shouted to the other goblins.

'Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!'

A number of goblins held Thorin down, and just as one of them was about to behead the dwarf, there was a massive explosion of bright light, and Gandalf stood amongst the goblins, his staff and sword held high.

'Take up arms! Fight! Fight!' he shouted, and the dwarves immediately sprang into action. Picking up their weapons, they start hacking and tearing at the goblins, and a couple of minutes have passed before Katy and Sarah realise the wizard meant them as well. Grabbing their swords, they glanced at each other fearfully before following the dwarves and Gandalf along a pathway. It is only then that the girls realise that they haven't seen Bilbo, but before they can give it much more thought they are forced to start using their swords to fight their way through a pack of goblins.

As Gandalf led them over suspended passageways, several goblins approached them from the front. Dwalin quickly cut a large plank of wood from the side of the path, and used it as a massive spear to clear the way ahead. But just as one group of goblins are defeated, more come to replace them. A goblin appeared at Katy's right, and before she could even think what she was doing, she forced her sword into its stomach, causing it to fall over and its insides to pour out. _I think I'm going to be sick_, she thought, as she pulled her sword from the goblin and hurried after the dwarves. She saw that Sarah was going though the same emotions, fighting for her life without a moments thought. Her friend was doing her best to stick close to Kili, who was firing arrows at the goblins.

The paths seemed endless, and the company continued to kill the goblins in their way. At one point the dwarves and the girls had to jump across a gap in a suspended path using ropes, and Gandalf used his staff to cause rocks to fall down and sweep goblins out of the way. Katy and Sarah were just starting to think that a way out of the tunnels must be getting nearer, when the Goblin King suddenly appeared on the bridge in front of them.

'You thought you could escape me?' he cried, as he swung his mace at Gandalf.

'What are you going to do now, wizard?'

Gandalf responded by striking the goblin in the eye, and then slicing his belly.

'That'll do it,' the Goblin King said, and Gandalf aimed his sword at his neck, killing him.

The weight of the goblin on the bridge caused it to shake, and the piece that the company were standing on broke off and slid down into the cavern. The dwarves, Katy, Sarah and Gandalf all clung on for dear life, until suddenly the piece hit the bottom and came to a stop.

'Well, that could have been worse,' said Bofur, but before any of the company could pick themselves up, the dead Goblin King landed on the wreckage, and squashed them all further.

'You've got to be joking!' shouted Dwalin, as the rest of the dwarves cry out in pain.

Sarah found herself underneath Bombur, and was quickly running out of breadth until he rolled off of her, smiling apologetically.

She turned to Katy.

'I can't believe we actually survived that!' she said, while Katy still looked like she was going to throw up.

Before she could think about doing that, Kili shouted to the rest of the group, pointing upwards.

'Gandalf! More goblins!'

'Only one thing will save us, daylight! Come on! Run!' the wizard exclaimed, and he led them through another tunnel. Soon, daylight could be seen ahead, and in minutes the company burst out of the cave and down the mountain.

As Gandalf starting counting the members of the company, Katy promptly threw up the entire contents of her stomach into a nearby bush. Sarah quickly went over to her and held back her hair.

'You ok, there?' she said, rubbing her friend's back.

Katy nodded, before hurling again.

Fili came over to them both, and Sarah smiled reassuringly at him.

'Just a little post-goblin sickness, I wouldn't worry too much about it. In fact, she'll probably be mortified that you've seen her in this state.'

The dwarf still looked a little concerned, and it was only when Katy herself gave an encouraging smile that he visibly relaxed.

'I'll be fine. Just a little delicate after my first goblin killing,' she said to Fili.

'Where's Bilbo? Where is our hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!' Gandalf said loudly, panic in his voice.

All the dwarves looked from one to the other, but no one knew where Bilbo was. Thorin then spoke up.

'I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone.'

Both Katy and Sarah's hearts sank. _He surely wouldn't just leave, would he? _They both thought.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Bilbo appeared in front of them.

'No, he isn't,' he said purposely.

'Bilbo!' cried the girls, as the company looked at him in shock.

'We'd given up on you!' said Kili

'How on earth did you get past the goblins?' asked Fili.

There was an awkward silence, as if Bilbo was deciding what to say, but in the end he said nothing, and just gave a nervous laugh.

'Well, what does it matter? He's back!' Gandalf said, but Thorin didn't look convinced, and pressed the hobbit on why he came back.

'Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have,' replied Bilbo, 'And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my arm chair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can,'

The dwarves didn't say anything after Bilbo finished talking, and Sarah had a lump in her throat, suddenly thinking of her own home and how much she missed it. She turned to Katy, knowing that she too would be thinking of home, and was about to say something reassuring to her when her friend threw up again.

'Sorry…' Katy muttered, embarrassed as everyone looked to her.

Her embarrassment was short-lived, as howling soon filled the air, getting louder, and the dwarves looked around frantically.

'Out of the frying pan…' Thorin said.

'…and into the fire! RUN!' finished Gandalf, and the whole company started running down the mountain as fast as they could. Kili and Fili quickly grabbed Sarah and Katy's hands, not wanting to let them fall behind.

As the howling continued to get louder, wargs suddenly came into view, and started charging at the company.

'Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb!' shouted Gandalf, and no one needed to be told twice.

'I AM REALLY NOT GOOD WITH HEIGHTS!' wailed Sarah, as she scrambled up into a tree after Kili. He reached out his hand and pulled her up onto a large branch, and she clung onto it for dear life, trying not to look down.

Katy was on the next branch up with Fili, looking less pale but no less terrified.

Suddenly a large warg comes into view, and sitting astride it was Azog, the Pale Orc.

'Azog?! It cannot be!' exclaimed Thorin, and his face is stricken with pain and grief. This was the creature who killed his father.

For a moment nothing happened, until Azog shouted a command at the other wargs and orcs, and they started attacking the trees that held the dwarves, Gandalf and the girls. The creatures tried to climb the trees, and while they weren't able to gain any height, their efforts caused the trees to sway and lean wildly. As the trees started to become uprooted, the company jumped from one tree to another, until all 17 of them are on one tree, on the very edge of a cliff.

'Don't look down, just don't look down,' Sarah started to tell herself, but the swaying branches and frantic shouts from the dwarves did little to calm her down.

A flaming pinecone dropped to the ground, hitting a warg, and after a moment's confusion, the company saw that it came from Gandalf. The wizard started throwing pinecones to the dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah, and they are all soon attacking the wargs, who start to retreat. Just as they start to cheer, the tree's roots give way, and it comes precariously close to falling off the cliff. Ori and Nori lose their grip on the branches, and are clinging onto one another.

'Hold on, Ori!

'Mister Gandalf!'

The wizard quickly held out his staff, just in time for Dori to grab both it and Ori as the branch holding them snapped. It was clear to everyone that the tree wasn't going to hold them all for much longer, and Thorin decided that he wasn't going to wait anymore. Pulling himself up from the branch he was clinging to, he started to march down the trunk towards Azog, sword held aloft.

'What the hell is he doing?!' said Katy, and she glances at Fili to see the tears in his eyes as he watched his uncle fight the Pale Orc.

Thorin tried to swing his sword at his enemy, but Azog hit him full force with his mace, smashing his face.

The dwarves cried out in horror, as the white warg picked up Thorin in his jaws. The dwarf managed to hit the warg with his sword, which only resulted in it tossing Thorin onto the ground, and the dwarf looked to be unconscious.

Bilbo, of all people, jumped out of the tree, and rushed over to where an orc was approaching Thorin, ready for the kill. The hobbit threw himself at the orc, and somehow managed to stab it. Looking wildly around him, Bilbo stood in front of Thorin, guarding him from any further attacks.

With a cry, Dwalin, Kili and Fili charged from the tree towards Azog and the orcs, and started fighting them. Both Katy and Sarah could feel the tears roll down their faces as they looked on helplessly with the other dwarves. The tree was still dangerously close to falling over the edge of the cliff, and just as Dori lost his grip on Gandalf's staff, an eagle swooped in from nowhere and caught both him and Ori. Soon, several more eagles fly towards the tree, and pick up the other dwarves.

Katy and Sarah look on in horror as an eagle flies in their direction, and they both scream loudly as they are picked up in its talons and tossed on its back. As it flies off, the girls can still see Kili and Fili fighting the orcs below.

'Where is it taking us?! We can't just leave them there!' yelled Katy.

'I think they've got the others as well,' muttered Sarah, as she tried not to look down at the ground far below. It was her turn to look like she was going to throw up.

After what felt like a lifetime, the eagle circled a massive rock structure, and gently placed Katy and Sarah on the grass. Sarah immediately started throwing up, and Katy looked on in astonishment as more eagles came into view and deposited the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf next to her.

The wizard quickly went over to Thorin, who still looked to be unconscious, and started to mutter some words while touching his face.

The company watch on in silence, until Thorin's eyes start to flutter and he gasped for air.

'Oh thank God,' muttered Katy.

'The Halfling?' said Thorin, weakly.

Gandalf gestured to where Bilbo stood.

'It's all right, Bilbo is here. He's quite safe.'

Thorin makes to stand up, and is helped onto his feet by Dwalin and Kili.

'You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild and that you had no place amongst us?' he aimed at the hobbit.

Bilbo naturally looked quite terrified as Thorin approached him.

"I've never been so wrong in all my life!' finished Thorin and he hugged Bilbo.

Sarah lets out a cheer, and soon Katy and the rest of the dwarves join in.

'You need me to hold your hair back?' Katy asked her friend, smiling.

'I think I'm ok, you know what I'm like with heights,' she grinned back, and she was soon pulled into a hug by Kili.

He held her face and looked right into her eyes.

'Still sticking with us?' he asked.

She nodded.

'Yeah. Though you might have to get used to me throwing up every now and again. Same goes for Katy,'

Sarah turned to her friend, who was being hugged tightly by Fili.

'I'd watch her, she might throw up on you,' she joked.

As the eagles flew away, the company looked out into the distance where a single mountain rose up.

'Erebor – the lonely mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms,' said Gandalf.

'Our home,' Thorin said, pride in his voice, and the girls noticed how Kili and Fili beamed at his words.

A bird flew by, headed for the mountain.

'Look! The birds are returning to the mountain!' shouted Oin.

'It's a good omen,' said Thorin, and some of the other dwarves nodded.

'You're right,' Bilbo said, 'I do believe the worst is behind us,'

'Well thank god for that,' said Sarah loudly, as Kili pulled her in for another hug, laughing along with the rest of the dwarves.


	8. Author note

I had hoped to post the next chapter by now, but things have been crazily busy at work, and on top of that I have interviews, hen nights and weddings... Which means I've only written about half of the next chapter. So it will take a little while longer before I post anymore up, but I am determined to finish this story, just bear with me!

Thank you!

xx


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